BJP activists burn the book in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee
The Telegraph
February 1 , 2008
Saffron sees red over text
- Orissa higher education minister initiates probe
OUR BUREAU
Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Jan. 31: Barely 20 days after a schoolbook published by a Delhi-based publishing house described Subhas Chandra Bose as a “fake” nationalist, remarks made against the Sangh Parivar in a Part-III textbook has triggered protests from the saffron brigade.
A delegation comprising parties that are a part of the Parivar today met chief minister Naveen Patnaik and higher education minister Samir Dey to demand a ban on Indian Polity Process and stern action against the authors — Amarendra Mohanty and Shyama Charan Mohanty — as well as the publishers, Kitab Mahal.
BJP state vice-president Nayan Kishore Mohanty said an FIR was lodged in the Salipur police station yesterday. Activists of RSS, Bajrang Dal and BJP staged demonstrations at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack where they also burnt copies of the book.
The textbook, Indian Polity Process, is meant for plus-III political science students opting for elective paper-II. In the fifth paragraph in page 125, lines read as: “Communal outfits such as Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, BJP, RSS, Huriyat Organisation and Lashkar-e-Toiba are creating communal tension in the country”.
RSS state joint-secretary Gopal Prasad Mohapatra, who led the delegation which met the chief minister, said such misrepresentation regarding the three organisations that are known for their patriotism misleads students, teachers and common readers.
“Before publishing such rubbish, the publisher should have cross-checked facts. It appears that they have deliberately misrepresented things to malign the image of the three organisations,” roared the RSS leader. Reacting to the protests, Dey told reporters that his department would seek legal action against the authors as well as the publisher.
If necessary the book would be banned. He added that his department would examine whether the syllabus committee of Utkal University had approved of the book and if they had, action would be taken against the committee members too.
If the authors were government employees, disciplinary action would be against taken them, he assured.
In Cuttack, an RSS and BJP stronghold, Sangh Parivar activists took to the streets. Activists of the BJP, Bajrang Dal, VHP and ABVP staged demonstrations in front of Kitab Mahal Publishers at College Square near Ravenshaw University where they burnt copies.
“We demanded stern action in our FIR that we lodged yesterday,” said BJP leader Mohanty. The police said no action has been initiated on the complaint so far.
Some 20 days ago a question paper textbook for Class VII students, published by Delhi-based Malhotra Book Depot, had described Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as a bhanda jatiyatabadi (fake nationalist) on page 45. Subsequently, the publisher tendered a public apology, called the error a “misprint” and withdrew the book from the market — after angry public took to the streets.
