Rajasthan: Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot has termed a chapter in school book mentioning freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak as father of terrorism, an ‘insult’ to the nation as well as freedom fighter. He demanded the BJP government to immediately remove the chapter and ban the book.
“It is very unfortunate that syllabus in school books is being misrepresented damaging the image of freedom fighters. The same BJP government earlier tried to delete chapter on first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru from school books and then retracted when Congress opposed it aggressively,” he said.
The book, which Pilot was referring to, is being used by private English medium schools affiliated to Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE). While describing Tilak, Chapter 22, page 267 of the book, under the heading ‘Incidents of National Movement during Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century’, says, “Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism.”
Congress has accused Raje government of saffronization of education. In a political science text book for Class 11, the Congress has been described as a nurtured baby of the British empire.
While accusing Raje government of using education as a tool to foster their party’s political interests he demanded an immediate ban on book.
Objectionable
The chapter 22 of the book under heading ‘Incidents of National Movement during Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century’, says, “Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism.”