Adding to the ongoing controversy over the revision of textbooks in Karnataka, Education Minister BC Nagesh has ordered the dropping of a poem by a famous Dalit author. The move was directed by the ruling BJP government in the state. The poem by Dalit writer Siddalingaiah, titled Bhoomi, conveys that the Sun and the Moon are not gods. The poem was dropped from the Class IV textbook, according to a report by IANS.
Sources are said to have informed IANS that the poem was deleted for hurting religious sentiments. The poem featured in the "Nali-Kali" section of the textbook, which is meant for compulsory co-curricular learning. It had been incorporated into the syllabus by the Textbook Revision Committee, headed by Baraguru Ramachandrappa, during the Congress rule.
The now-dissolved Textbook Revision Committee formed by the BJP government, headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha, is in the eye of the storm created over the recent revisions in textbooks in Karnataka. However, this latest revision was not directed by the Committee. It instead came from the top BJP brass in the state itself.
According to IANS, the poem further says that no one has seen the 'aatma' (spirit) of the God, and that Shastras and Puranas are bundles of lies and the palace and the abode of the guru are also traps. The state government has announced the revision of the controversial aspects of the syllabus revised by the Rohith Chakrathirtha-led committee after huge backlash. The committee revised Kannada textbooks of Classes I to X and Social Science textbooks of Classes VI to X.
