Karnataka: Major Blow To BJP As Congress Govt Drops Chapter On RSS Founder From School Textbooks

The newly elected Congress government in Karnataka has delivered a huge setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after cabinet decided to remove lessons related to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) founder KB Hedgewar from school textbooks across state.

According to state education minister Madhu Bangarappa, supplementary textbooks will be provided to the students with revised changes and new books will not be printed.

"In the interest of students, we have decided to withdraw all the changes made by the previous BJP Govt to texts. We have also removed a chapter on RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar," said a tweet by Bangarappa.

In the last week of May 2023, as many as 30 academicians and writers met with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru and submitted a memorandum with various demands to reform the education sector including the recent changes in textbooks and ban on hijab in educational institutions.

Facing allegations of 'saffronising' school education, the BJP government in Karnataka received flak over the removal of chapters on social reformer Narayana Guru, freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, and works of progressive writers such as Sara Aboobacker and P Lankesh.

The committee, who made the changes, received further criticism over inclusion of right-wing ideologues Chakravarti Sulibele, Govinda Pai and Bannanje Govindacharya.