Textbook revision against spirit of Constitution: JIH

Accuses govt of trying to ‘saffronise’ education in the garb of reforms

NT | Correspondent
Bengaluru

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Karnataka expressed disappointment over the recent decision of the BJP led government regarding the textbook revision, which has created a huge backlash and outcry from several communities across the state.

In a statement on Thursday, the Jamaat said that the suggestion by the committee headed by Rohit Chakratirtha for the changes in the syllabi, are against the constitutional spirit and the ethos of Karnataka state. According to the Jamaat, the BJP led government is attempting to “saffronise” education in the garb of education reform. The Jamaat suggested that “instead of painting history with a particular colour, traditions and values of all religions should be respected.”

“The teachings of Basavanna, Sree Narayana Guru and Kuvempu have been distorted and belittled. Chapters of Bhagat Singh have been omitted and everyone is aware of what has happened to Tipu Sultan and his contributions,” the JIH said.

The organisation also said that introducing the teachings of K.B. Hedgewar and Veer Savarkar, is an attempt to promote the RSS ideologues among the society.

Further it was pointed out that the committee formed by the government has no representatives either from women or from the minorities. The Jamaat accepted that religious education was the need of the hour, but said that the “teachings of one religion should not be made compulsory for students of all religions.”

The Jamaat demanded that no alteration be made to the education and syllabus of the country particularly in the books of history.

“There is a need to restructure the committee and we urge and demand that the government take back these reforms and continue with the previous syllabus which was supervised by Baraguru Ramachandrappa,” JIH said.

The organisation urged the government that the younger generation be given the right footing and the much needed pluralist, inclusive and constitutional ideals based syllabi.