The government of Tamil Nadu has told Madras High Court that it will remove certain portions pertaining to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from class 10 textbook.
The issue relates to a paragraph in the Social Science textbook of class 10, printed by the government of Tamil Nadu. The portions that have sparked controversy are under the topic ‘Hindu Communalism, Muslim Communalism and Indian Nationalism’. “The Muslim League dubbed the Congress as a Hindu organisation and claimed that it alone was the representative of the Muslims of India. Similarly, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) took a pronounced anti-Muslim stance,” reads the book.
The petition, filed by P Chandrasekaran, Secretary of RSS (Chennai region), detailed the origin of the RSS in 1925 and stated that ‘in simplest terms an ideal of the RSS is to carry the nation to pinnacle of glory through organising the entire society and ensuring protection of Hindu dharma’. The petition also stated, “RSS has core principle of unity in working towards the national diversity and harmony, in fact the meaning of Hindu is those who love this land, its people, its forest everything here, which include any religion or region, caste or worship of any god…”
Referring to the lines in the textbook, the petition said, “It has been made to appear as if that during the struggle for freedom, RSS took a Anti Muslim stance and the same had resulted in the partition of the country.” It also emphasised that RSS was not against any religion but was working towards the ‘consolidation of the Hindu society which was divided on caste lines’.
Claiming that these lines portrayed a wrong impression about the Sangh among young minds the petitioner said that it would also lower the image of the organisation in their minds.
The government of Tamil Nadu, in its response said that it would remove the controversial portion from the textbook and also form a committee to inquire into how these lines were included as a part of a school textbook.
BJP Tamil Nadu’s official Twitter handle had also tweeted on Sunday that RSS was founded to serve the people. “State government must investigate how wrong information about the RSS found way into the textbooks printed by the government of Tamil Nadu,” the tweet added in Tamil.
தமிழ்நாடு பாடப் புத்தகத்தில் RSS குறித்த தவறான தகவலை நீக்க சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.
— BJP Tamilnadu (@BJP4TamilNadu) January 12, 2020
RSS மக்கள் சேவைக்காக தொடங்கப்பட்ட இயக்கம்.
RSS குறித்த தவறான தகவல் தமிழக பாடம் புத்தகத்தில் எவ்வாறு இடம்பெற்றது குறித்து தமிழக அரசு விசாரணை செய்ய வேண்டும்.#RSS_For_All pic.twitter.com/waBuPBv2jj