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Earlier in April, a few revisions to National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks made headlines. The deletion of portions related to the Mughal era, the 2002 Gujarat riots, Hindu extremists’ aversion to Gandhi and the government’s ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after Gandhi’s assassination, evoked strong criticism from educationists and historians. NCERT textbooks have undergone major revisions in the past few years under the BJP-led Union government, and many of them have been slammed for allegedly saffronising school curriculum. Since the BJP government came to power in Karnataka in 2019, the state board’s curriculum and textbooks too have seen some major changes, many of them widely opposed by progressive groups.
The year 2022 in particular witnessed some major controversies around changes introduced by the BJP government in textbooks, and its suggestions to the Union government which included introducing Manusmriti into school curriculum. From deleting the works of Dalit writers and including writings of RSS ideologues to stories of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar flying out of his jail cell on the wings of bulbul birds, the government tried to introduce many changes. Here’s a quick recap by TNM on Karnataka’s textbook controversies.
It all began at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when school syllabi had to be shortened to account for school closures. In July 2020, Karnataka’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) decided to drop certain portions on Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, and even the Constitution from Class 11 social studies textbooks. Opposition parties and many citizens criticised the BJP government, accusing them of politicising education to advance their agenda. The BJP government, however, defended the move saying it was only temporary and not done with an ideological agenda.
Later that year, in December 2020, the Brahmin Development Board raised concerns about a particular section in the Class 6 social science textbook, which they claimed offended their religious sentiments, in a meeting with the then Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Following this, the government issued a circular instructing schools not to teach the controversial chapter or use it for evaluation. The portion in question was about the birth of new religions, especially Buddhism and Jainism. It said that a food scarcity was caused in the Vedic period due to sacrifices of agricultural animals and large offerings of milk and ghee made during fire rituals performed by Brahmins.
According to the lesson, it was a prominent belief that performing the rituals was the only way to achieve salvation, although common people could not afford the expensive rituals or understand the Sanskrit chants. Buddhism and Jainism taught simpler ways of salvation and hence people preferred these new religions, the omitted chapter stated.
Subsequently, the government decided to remove these ‘offensive’ parts from the curriculum. The then state Education Minister S Suresh Kumar had stated that the paragraphs titled 'Emergence of New Religions' were “unsuitable” for young students. The Minister not only removed the material from the curriculum but also instructed the Karnataka Text Book Society to create an expert committee to review textbooks for Classes 1 through 10.
In September 2021, a textbook review committee was established by the state government to address any objections and correct any mistakes. This 15-member committee was led by Rohith Chakrathirtha, a staunch Hindutva ideologue and member of the Kannada Development Authority. Chakrathirtha’s appointment was met with criticism from academics, writers, and intellectuals, who believed that it was an attempt to saffronise textbooks.
Even as the textbooks were being printed, the Committee faced accusations of historical distortion and factual inaccuracy from various groups. Many activists, academics, and opposition parties accused the government of promoting a Brahminical ideology and overlooking the contributions of Dalits and minority communities.
The controversial content in the textbooks gained attention on social media platforms when a few excerpts were publicly shared. One example is a speech titled 'Nijavaada Aadarsha Purusha Yaaraagabeku' (Who is an ideal role model?) by RSS founder KB Hedgewar, which was added to the revised Kannada textbook for Class 10. On the other hand, the works of Dalit writers and progressive reformist writers, which promoted gender equality, social justice, and spoke against communalism and caste hierarchies, were removed. The revised textbooks also included lessons on RSS ideologues such as VD Savarkar. TNM had previously reported on the complete list of changes that were made to the textbooks by the Chakrathirtha Committee.
Opposition leaders, religious leaders, writers, and other citizens spoke out against the government's decision to remove chapters written by Dalit writers and lessons on women social reformers. Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) president HD Deve Gowda wrote to CM Basavaraj Bommai questioning the removal of a photograph of poet Kuvempu and sections on social reformer Basavanna. Devanuru Mahadeva and G Ramakrishna, prominent Kannada writers, withdrew their permission for their works to be included in the Class 10 Kannada textbook. Due to mounting pressure, the Karnataka government issued an order confirming eight changes to the revised school textbooks. However, instead of omitting the controversial chapters, teachers were instructed to adhere to the new changes while teaching.
In October 2022, despite the withdrawal of permission by certain writers to publish their work in the textbooks, the education department reinstated the works of all the writers, claiming that citizens, parents, and resource persons had requested the retention of these chapters. According to a report in the Times of India, the authors were not even informed of the reinstatement and only learned about it through media reports.
The Class 8 Kannada textbook had a passage added which said that Savarkar flew out of his jail cell on a bulbul bird's wings, during his time at the Andaman prison. The passage reads, "In the room where Savarkar was jailed, there was not even a small keyhole. However, bulbul birds would visit the room from somewhere, on whose wings Savarkar would sit and fly out to visit the motherland every day." Critics have argued that the passage is meant to be taken literally and will confuse students. However, the textbook committee dismissed the controversy, stating that the passage is an instance of ‘sahitya alankara,’ or beautified prose.
In the same year, the Karnataka government submitted its position papers on various subjects to the Union government and NCERT, as a proposal for inclusion in school syllabus under the new National Education Policy (NEP). One of the papers proposed teaching Sanskrit as a mandatory third language, and the introduction of Manusmriti in school syllabus. The proposal also challenged the authenticity of Pythagoras theorem and the story of an apple falling on the scientist Isaac Newton, calling them ’fake news’.
Another position paper on health and well-being suggested that certain foods including eggs must be prohibited, claiming that this would prevent obesity and hormonal imbalance in children. It further claimed that offering different types of food to children, such as eggs versus grams or eggs versus bananas, can lead to nutritional imbalances. The paper also said high amounts of sugar, salt, and meat were “bad” while food that has been prepared in “grandmother’s way” is “good”.