BENGALURU : The controversy surrounding revision of state syllabus textbooks for the current academic year took a new turn with senior Kannada litterateur SL Bhyrappa stating on Thursday that “the truth, and not ideology, should be part of textbooks”.
Textbook review committee chairman Rohith Chakratirtha, who’s facing flak for changes to textbook besides circulating a distorted version of the state anthem penned by poet laureate Kuvempu, is encountering a fresh firestorm for a collection of old tweets relating to pornography and feminism.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had said that education minister BC Nagesh would submit a report on the controversy on Thursday and he would take the next step based on its findings. However, Nagesh is currently in Gujarat, atten- ding a conclave on National Education Policy.
While stopping short of castigating the Bommai government for the textbook row, the Mysuru-based novelist also disapproved of the writers who have asked for their works to be withdrawn from textbooks. He added: “The minister’s house came under attack. Someone is behind these youths. ”
Screenshots of Chakratirtha’s tweets which are doing the rounds are mostly from 2016 and have a strong sexual undertone. He said, “This has nothing to do with textbook revisions. These people (detractors) have been trying to corner me for 2-3 weeks… None of these are my own writings. They can be found all over the internet. ”
Chakrathirtha’s posts on porn, feminism draw flak
The controversy surrounding Rohith Chakrathirtha, chairman of the textbook revision committee, appears only to be growing. Close on the heels of allegations that he had once posted a distorted version of the Nadageethe on Facebook, social media is abuzz with a collection of his tweets relating to pornography.
Screenshots of these tweets are mostly from 2016 and have a strong sexual undertone. Chakrathirtha defended them, saying: “This has nothing to do with textbook revisions. These people have been try ing to corner me for the past two-three weeks. First, they said lessons on some people have been deleted, then, they raised other caste-related issues in the books. When none of these worked, they are now try ing to probe into my personal life to find faults. ”
While one of the tweets equates viewing Indian cricket team’s batting to pornography, another makes comments on girls in general. One tweet about feminism reads: “#Femi nism is the belief that both sexes may become equal by focusing solely on one of them. :-P (sic). ”
Terming these “deliberate attempts at halting the textbook revision process”, Chakrathirtha said: “They are digging into my Face book profile. It’s an open space where people have the right to express an opinion. They’ve selectively found these one-liners to target me. None of these are my own writings. They can be found all over the internet. ”
Chakrathirtha’s qualification to head the revision panel has also been called into question. “My qualifications are in the public domain. Have I not been selected by the government for the committee? Why aren’t the same questions being asked of Baraguru Ramachandrappa [previous chairman]? His textbooks say all soldiers are rapists. Why is that not questioned?” Chakrathirtha asked.
BC Nagesh, primary and secondary education minister, at a press conference, defended Chakrathirtha’s qualification, saying he is a professor who trains students for CET.
Earlier this week, a distorted version of the Nadageethe that Chakrathirtha had posted on his FB wall, was circulated on social media. He was accused of insulting poet Kuvempu. Chakrathirtha claimed it was a WhatsApp forward.
On several writers asking for their works to be taken out of textbooks, he said: “There are over 100 writers’ works that have been published. Only a few have a problem. It is one political party that is creating these issues. ”
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai recently said that action, if any, will be taken after the education minister submits a report on the row. However, Nagesh is in Gujarat attending a conclave on National Education Policy.
