Don't saffronise textbooks: Parents urge Karnataka government

A group of parents and activists of Campus Front of India (CFI) have demanded the state government remove the contents of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar from the school textbooks.

The two groups held separate press conferences on Monday urging the government to return to the old textbooks and put an end to the controversy.

Addressing a news conference, B N Yogananda of the State Private School-College Parents’ Associations Coordination Committee said, “The government is trying to feed hatred in the name of patriotism. We urge the government to retain previous year textbooks.”

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The parents threatened to display a black flag and protest if the government distributes the textbooks revised by the Rohith Chakratirtha Committee.

Meanwhile, the CFI warned of staging an agitation if the government fails to remove Hedgewar’s speech from the textbooks.

Attaullah Punjalkatte, CFI state president, said the government is trying to saffronise the textbooks by inserting the speech. “Hedgewar did not accept the Khilafat movement and started RSS with the aim of (creating) a Hindu nation. If the speech is not removed from the textbooks we will stage a state-wide protest.”

He said Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh was intoxicated by Hindutva ideology. “We demand the removal of B C Nagesh from the portfolio. He should resign,” he demanded.