New Delhi: The Rajasthan government has erased the references of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru from the new Social Studies textbook for Class 8.
According to a report in Indian Express, the book is not yet available in the market but uploaded on the website of publisher Rajasthan Rajya Pathyapustak Mandal http://www.rstbraj.in
In the new chapter on National Movement, which had Nehru prominently in a box titled Major Leaders of National Movement, there is no mention of Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Madan Mohan Malviya or other freedom fighters.
The chapter on post-independence India is again silent on Nehru. It, however, mentions the first president Rajendra Prasad and Sardar Patel’s contribution to unite India.
The restructured book, however, features Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and revolutionary Hemu KalaniThere is also no mention of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by Nathuram Godse.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has found fault with the sudden decision to change syllabi and accused the Vasundhra Raje government of ‘saffronising’ education.
When the government was asked about the latest development, it distanced itself saying ‘it has nothing to do with the changes’. “The government and I have nothing to do with it. I am yet to see the new textbooks. The syllabus is created by an autonomous body and the government does not interfere in it at all,” School Education Minister Vasudev Devnani told the daily.
The revision work of the textbook was carried out as part of curriculum re-structuring by the State Institute of Education Research and Training (SIERT), Udaipur.
