New controversy over attempts to “rewrite history” in school textbooks by the BJP-led state government
o The state government’s textbook revision committee has added a section on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in their revised high school curriculum saying he used to sit on the wings of a bird and fly out to visit India while he was in the Andaman jail.
o However, the writers of the textbook have rubbished controversy, saying that the passage is ‘Sahitya Alankara’, or beautified prose.
A new controversy has embroiled Karnataka over accusations of attempts to “rewrite history” by the BJP-led state government as the textbook revision committee has reportedly added a section on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in their revised high school curriculum.
The class 8 Kannada textbook teaches that Mr. Savarkar used to sit on the wings of a bird and fly out to visit India while he was incarcerated in the Andaman jail. “There wasn’t even a keyhole in the cell where Savarkar was kept but bulbul birds used to visit it and Savarkar would sit on their wings and visit the motherland every day,” a passage in the textbook says.
Mr Savarkar’s role in the Indian freedom struggle was a huge ideological venture for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, the ideological predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to the Kannada textbook for class 8, while Mr. Savarkar was incarcerated in the Andaman jail, he would perch on the wings of a bird and fly out to see his home country.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, the ideological guru of the BJP, and the opposition Congress party have clashed over Mr. Savarkar’s participation in the Indian freedom fight. Critics argue that the passage has been written to be learned literally, and will be confusing for students. However, the people behind the textbook have rubbished the controversy, and say that the passage is ‘Sahitya Alankara’, or beautified prose.
The passage is from a chapter on VD Savarkar in the Karnataka state board’s Class 8 Kannada textbook and the chapter introduces Savarkar to students. The section is followed by an extract from a travelogue to Andaman written by Kannada writer KT Gatti. Gatti revisits the Cellular Jail where Savarkar was kept between 1911 and 1924, and writes about the Hindutva leader’s life in prison, as part of which he brings in the bulbul passage.
Noting that the passage doesn’t sound like it is written as a metaphor, Congress MLA Priyank Kharge opined on Twitter, “This doesn’t sound like it was supposed to be a metaphor. There was not even a keyhole in the cell where Savarkar was kept but bulbul birds used to visit the room, and Savarkar would sit on their wings and fly out to visit the motherland every day”
Rohith Chakratirtha, chairman of the now dissolved Karnataka Textbook Revision Committee, issued a statement clarifying that the line is a figure of speech and is not a literal claim that Savarkar flew on a bulbul. “I wonder if the intellect of some people has sunk so low that they can’t comprehend what a figure of speech is,” he said.
The chapter in question is named ‘Kalavannu Geddavaru’ (Those who had won against time), written by KT Gatti, which replaced an earlier textbook called ‘Blood Group’ by Vijayamala Ranganath. According to a previous report, the Karnataka Text Book Society (KTBS) has received three complaints against the bulbul paragraph.
VD Savarkar was a Hindutva ideologue who wrote the title ‘Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?’, published as ‘Essentials for Hindutva’. After being released from Andaman prison in 1924, he drew criticism for not joining the Indian Freedom Movement. He was also blamed for plotting the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi but the court cleared the allegations due to a lack of evidence.
