Thiruvananthapuram: A political row erupted in Kerala over a school quiz question allegedly praising V D Savarkar, with Left student outfits accusing the Congress-led UDF government of "aligning with the Sangh Parivar agenda".
With the issue triggering sharp reactions, state General Education Minister N Samsudheen on Saturday sought a report from the Director of General Education on the quiz conducted in schools in Kumbla and Manjeshwaram sub-districts of northern Kasaragod.
The disputed question, prepared for the Freedom Quiz conducted by the education department for lower primary school students, asked: "Who is the freedom fighter that received the most severe punishment from the British?" The answer was given as V D Savarkar.
According to reports, teachers in charge of the Social Science Club Association had prepared the questionnaire.
The controversy erupted after Left student outfits alleged that the question portrayed Savarkar, a Hindutva ideologue and one of the accused in the conspiracy surrounding Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, as a freedom fighter.
The Students' Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of opposition CPI (M), alleged that the UDF government and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key ally in the ruling UDF, were attempting to give the Sangh Parivar a role in the country's freedom struggle.
"Under the UDF government in Kerala, with the IUML handling the general education portfolio, an attempt is being made to create a role for the Sangh Parivar, which betrayed the freedom struggle," SFI state secretary P S Sanjeev said in a Facebook post.
He alleged that a quiz for students in Kasaragod district had presented the "main conspirator in Gandhi's assassination" as a freedom fighter.
"The League's anti-Sangh Parivar stand was exposed as a fraud through the PM SHRI issue itself. The League is neither anti-Sangh nor does it have any stand. What they have is only business interests and hunger for power," Sanjeev alleged.
Mattannoor MLA and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) state secretary K Sanoj also criticised the government over the issue in a Facebook post.
"A school quiz has featured a question praising Savarkar. There is no question about it-just go ahead and justify it," Sanoj said.
In the social media post, he also flayed the government's reported direction that Vande Mataram should be sung in full during Independence Day celebrations.
DYFI is the youth organisation of the CPI (M).
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.