Row erupts over BJP loyalist Chakravarthi Sulibele's lesson in Karnataka Class 10 textbook

Amidst the furore over the inclusion and exclusion of personalities in Karnataka's Class X social science textbook, the State Education Department has now decided to include a lesson by Chakravarthi Sulibele, founder of Yuva Brigade and a staunch BJP supporter and PM Modi loyalist.

According to various media reports, the Karnataka Education Department has decided to include a lesson "Taayi Bharatiya Amara Putraru” (Mother Bharati’s immortal sons) authored by Chakravarthi Sulibele in Class 10th textbooks. The aforesaid lesson will be part of the non-detailed text for class 10th textbooks. Notably, the state education department has also added one more lesson titled "Samajika Mattu Dharmika Sudharakaru" (Social and Religious Reformers). It is being said that the references to Narayana Guru and Periyar, which were present in the earlier modules of the chapter, have now been excluded.

Meanwhile, the CM Bommai government's decision to include Sulibele's lesson in the textbook has met with criticism on social media as netizens called out the Karnataka administration for attempting to saffronise education. See some reaction below:

Controversy erupts over inclusion of RSS founder Hedgewar's speech in Class 10 textbooks

Earlier, organisations like All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC) had alleged that a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was included in the textbook while a lesson on Bhagat Singh was excluded. Later, the Karnataka Textbook Society clarified that the chapter on Bhagat Singh has not been removed, adding that the Kannada textbook of Class 10 was at the printing stage.

"Currently there are reports in the media that a lesson on Hedgewar has been included in class 10 first language Kannada textbook by omitting a chapter on Bhagat Singh. The reality is that the chapter on Bhagat Singh has not been omitted from textbooks," the society said in a statement according to PTI.

Noting that the committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha was constituted to examine Social Science and language textbooks and revise them, Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh 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.