Rajasthan minister wants to rid school books of Gandhis' reference; 'narrow-mindedness,' rebuts Congress

Jaipur, Jul 10 (PTI) Rajasthan School Education Minister Madan Dilawar stoked a controversy Thursday by declaring he will remove two books from the class 12 syllabus, claiming they only glorify a few Congress leaders of the Gandhi family.

Congress alleged that the the decision was an ideological attack and an example of the narrow-mindedness of the BJP and RSS.

Dilawar alleged that parts 1 and 2 of the book 'Azadi Ke Baad Swarnim Bharat' glorify some leaders of the Congress, who imposed the Emergency in the country, suspended the Constitution and killed democracy.

"It does not talk about the role of great leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr BR Ambedkar and Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who later founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. These books only glorify the Gandhi family who imposed the Emergency in the country for their greed and for office," Dilawar told reporters here today.

"We will not let such books be taught to our students. Also, these books were an addition to the syllabus and do not have weightage for marks in exams. Then why burden students?" Dilawar said.

He said that people like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje were more deserving of a mention in the book.

Congress leader Govind Singh Dotasra said the minister was whipping up an unnecessary controversy over the book, which depicts the contribution of "great" Indian heroes.

"This is an ideological attack, the narrow thinking of the RSS on the education system," he said.

Dotasra claimed that the books in contention were printed with the permission of the BJP government, the education minister, and other government officials.

A total of 4.90 lakh of these books are in print, and 80 per cent of them have been distributed to the students, he said.

"The question is, what is the justification for removing these books from the syllabus? What flaw is the minister seeing in these books now that he did not see earlier?" Dotasra asked.

He added, "If the minister approved a subject without understanding it, then what kind of minister is he? Why is he ruining the education system by wasting crores of rupees of the government?" Dotasra said that erasing the contributions of former prime ministers from school books is not just a change in the curriculum but an attempt to change the direction of thought formation in the education system.

He accused the state BJP government of conspiring to distort history and make the "hateful thinking" of the RSS a part of the curriculum.

"Does the BJP government want to erase the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, the founder of the world's largest democracy? Does it want to erase the contribution of IIT, IIM, ISRO, Planning Commission, AIIMS and education and social justice created under the visionary leadership of Pandit Nehru, the first prime minister who took India from zero to the top?" he said.

The Congress leader also wondered if the BJP wanted to hide the historic decisions such as the division of Pakistan into two parts, the nuclear test in Pokhran, and the nationalisation of banks, all made possible by the "Iron Lady" Indira Gandhi.

He also mentioned former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, hailing him as the architect of modern India, and the one who brought the country into the computer age, and strengthened Panchayati Raj.

He hailed former prime minister Manmohan Singh as the pioneer of liberalisation and economic reforms in the country.

"Does the BJP government want to hide history and truth from students by removing this indelible contribution of the great heroes of the country from the syllabus?" he asked. PTI AG VN VN