Textbook revision row: Karnataka BJP to hold meeting

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka has decided to hold a meeting over the Congress-led government's decision to revise textbooks.

The decision was taken during a meeting organised at the party headquarters Jagannath Bhavan in Malleshwaram, in Bengaluru.

BJP National General Secretary C.T. Ravi, former Karnataka speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, former minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, former education ministers B.C. Nagesh, S. Suresh Kumar, MLCs Shasheel Namoshi, among others were present in the meeting.

The meeting decided that the matter must be discussed in detail and a strategy to oppose it should be made before the Assembly session which would be held in July.

Speaking to the media, C.T. Ravi said: "It is intolerable that after the Congress government assumed power, without discussion and with only a prejudiced mindset, the exercise of removal of lessons has been taken up.

"We will give a suggestion to the government. The individuals might change, but not the government. The system of education can't be changed by a prejudiced mindset. The preliminary discussions are being held at this stage. Later, a discussion will be held with the experts in the education sector and a decision will be taken," he said.

Former Minister for Education B.C. Nagesh, under whom the textbook revision exercise was taken up, said "the new government has taken up the textbook revision all of a sudden. Whatever the matter is, deep research is required."

Minister for Education Madhu Bangarappa said during the ongoing academic year the unscientific and anti-Constitutional content would be revised.

"The previous BJP government had added objectionable content to the syllabus. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself is concerned about revision of those aspects," he said.

The Congress government is all set to drop lessons, poems and writings on RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Veer Savarkar and lessons by right wing writers, sources said.