Portions in books preaching Hindutva to be deleted: TN Minister

(http://www.zeenews.com/
July 25, 2006)

Chennai, July 25: The Tamil Nadu government will take steps to remove portions from school text books, which were aimed at preaching `Hindutva policies', school Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu said in assembly today.

The minister gave this assurance following a request from Dalit panthers of India member Ravikumar, who charged that some portions of school text books in the state were aimed at propagating `Hindutva policies' and sought their immediate removal.

Thangam Thennarasu said "this saffronisation of education did not take place when the DMK was in power. However, we will take all steps to remove those portions aimed at saffronisation."

Ravikumar, who took part in the discussion on the state budget, praised Chief Minister m Karunanidhi for initiating measures for the betterment of Sri Lankan refugees.

He appealed to the DMK government to pressure the Centre to sign the UN convention of refugees, which would help the United Nations High Commission for Refugees function legally in the country. This would be helpful for all refugees including those from Sri Lanka, he added.

People belonging to ST communities were not able to enjoy the educational and economic benefits provided by the government as there were several "obstructions" in obtaining community certificates, he said and urged the government to solve the problem.

Bureau Report