Congress glorified Tipu for votes, says Karnataka minister

Karnataka minister for primary and secondary education BC Nagesh slammed Congress over allegations of excluding eminent historical personalities, freedom fighters and reformers from textbooks, saying that the opposition party is using education to gather votes.

“The previous (textbook revision) committee had removed five pages on Mysuru Maharajas and reduced it to four lines. They (Congress) had added six pages of Tipu Sultan. Why? Because Wodeyar (Mysuru Maharajas) are not a vote bank, Tipu is,” Nagesh said in Bengaluru on Monday.

The statements come almost a week after reports emerged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government allegedly removed portions of the chapter on Bhagat Singh, Narayana Guru and others to accommodate right-wing ideologues like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder KB Hedgewar.

Nagesh said that the education department moved several of these chapters from the “overburdened” history textbooks to Kannada language books but didn’t remove any.

However, he conceded that chapters on reformers like Periyar, who denounced Lord Rama as a representing Vedic culture and glorified Ravana as a representing Dravida culture, were removed.

“Not one line in Kuvempu’s prose has been removed. It was the Congress who removed it,” Nagesh said. He added that the Congress had given rise to a situation in which the caste and religion of literary personalities had become the focus and not the content which would be beneficial for children.

“In the 10th-grade chapter on British rule, they (Congress and previous revision committee) had not mentioned the tales of Sangolli Rayanna, Kittur Rani Channamma, Madakari Nayaka, Abakka. Were their names removed because they are Hindus and only mentioned Tipu Sultan,” Nagesh said.

The charges by Congress lend to allegations that the BJP government were trying to push the Hindutva narrative before the 2023 assembly elections and isolating minorities.

“Leaving Bhagat Singh, Narayan Guru, Basavanna is not good as it is to inspire our next generation with history and values. Ignoring all this, they (BJP) are pushing their own political and ideological agenda. It is very unfortunate, and we condemn it,” MB Patil, senior Congress leader and chairman of the party’s campaign committee, said.

Can we have a fresh Congress quote on fresh allegations?