Karnataka textbook row: CM Basavaraj Bommai says government 'open to revisions'

In a key update in the Karnataka textbook revision row, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, on Thursday, assured that his government is open to revising the textbooks of class 10, and said that he has already spoken to the state Education Minister BC Nagesh on the matter. It is pertinent to mention that the Karnataka Textbook Review Committee has been under fire for introducing changes to class 10 Kannada and Social Science textbooks.

CM Bommai said, "Government is open to revising textbooks. I've spoken to the Education Minister. We are open to suggestions."

This comes a week after Congress leaders staged a massive protest against CM Bommai's government in Karnataka outside the Vidhan Soudha (state legislative) in Bengaluru over the textbook revision row. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah were seen leading the protest, demanding the removal of the new textbooks and bringing back the old textbooks for the school.

Karnataka textbook row

Karnataka Textbook Review Committee is being heavily criticised for quite some time for introducing changes to class 10 Kannada and Social Science textbooks. The committee has been specifically under attack for including the speech of RSS founder KB Hedgewar in the Kannada textbook. Also, the alleged replacement of references of eminent historical personalities like Narayana Guru with right-wing thinkers like Hedgewar instead is facing criticism.  

Many scholars, including senior scholar Nadoja Hampa Nagarajaiah, the first among those holding a post at the government-run academy, resigned from their posts. Two renowned Kannada writers - Devanur Mahadeva and G Ramakrishna - have decided to revoke permission to use their works in the school curriculum, mounting pressure on the government to act against the Karnataka Textbook Revision Committee chairperson Rohit Chakrathirtha.

Earlier, Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh had defended the inclusion of a speech by Hedgewar in a revised Kannada textbook. The Minister had said that the textbook does not contain anything about Hedgewar or RSS, but only his speech on what should be an inspiration to people, especially the youth, and that those who have raised complaints have not gone through the textbook.