12-08-2006, 06:13 AM
Plea to detoxify books of anti-Islam references
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->LUCKNOW: Saffronisation of education, it seems, has not phased out with the BJP government in UP. With compilation of anti-Islamic references in 31 text books prescribed for from class V to class XII, Deeni Talimi Councilâ the oldest and largest of madrasa in the stateâ has petitioned chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for detoxing school syllabus.
The books identified are duly approved by the Uttar Pradesh Basic/ Higher Secondary Board of Education.
"Insidious attempts to impart a biased and jaundiced information to young impressionable minds needs to be strictly discouraged," says the petition as it demands setting up of a government text book review committee for the purpose.
Talking to TOI on Thursday, general secretary of the Council, Masoodul Hasan Usmani, said that Yadav was apprised of existing anomalies on July 24 2005.
The Council, he said, had then published a review of school text books carried out by its in house committee. The event was attended by the president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board and head of Nadwatul Ulema Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi. who is also the head of the Council, besides other scholars, he added.
But the glaring distortions and derogatory undercurrent he said continue even after one year. For instance the history book "Bharat Ka Vrihat Itihas" for intermediate contains a lesson titled ascendance of Islam.
On page no 266 it says, "When residents of Mecca began to oppose Mohammed Saheb and there was a threat to his life, he ran away to Madina. ...Mohammed Saheb propagated Islam on the strength of sheer military power".
"Instead of an objectionable 'he ran away to Madina' (woh Madina bhag gaye) they could have written, he went away to Madina," corrects Usmani. The same lesson says that the "Muslims had a very low moral character and they did not think twice before humiliating Hindu women".
Another history book for intermediate, Madhyamik Bharat Ka Itihas, maintains that "Shah Jehan was a fanatic (kattarpanthi Muslim) and greatly intolerant of Hindu religion. He demolished three temples in Gujarat and five temples in Banaras and Allahabad." There are no details of the temples demolished.
Then page 150 has a reference claiming that "mosques at Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura by their architecture indicate that they were built after demolishing temples".
The book also accused Emperor Humayun of temple desecration. In fact the list of questions at the end of the lesson also has anti-Muslim undertone like Aurangzeb ke do Hindu virodhi karya bataiye (narrate two anti Hindu measures taken by Auragzeb.)
Similarly, Samajik Vigyan the text book for class X credits Sir Syed Ahmad for political awakening among Muslims but adds "however on the flip side this led to the rise of communalism in India, (Page 168).
The Council has demanded a compulsory screening of all text books by a committee comprising all sects and religions, says HU Azmi, secretary of the council. Justice Rajendra Sachar had taken note of our findings, he declared. "Now we wait for Yadav to prove his secular credentials by washing off the saffron streaks," he added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Ci...show/739111.cms
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->LUCKNOW: Saffronisation of education, it seems, has not phased out with the BJP government in UP. With compilation of anti-Islamic references in 31 text books prescribed for from class V to class XII, Deeni Talimi Councilâ the oldest and largest of madrasa in the stateâ has petitioned chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for detoxing school syllabus.
The books identified are duly approved by the Uttar Pradesh Basic/ Higher Secondary Board of Education.
"Insidious attempts to impart a biased and jaundiced information to young impressionable minds needs to be strictly discouraged," says the petition as it demands setting up of a government text book review committee for the purpose.
Talking to TOI on Thursday, general secretary of the Council, Masoodul Hasan Usmani, said that Yadav was apprised of existing anomalies on July 24 2005.
The Council, he said, had then published a review of school text books carried out by its in house committee. The event was attended by the president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board and head of Nadwatul Ulema Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi. who is also the head of the Council, besides other scholars, he added.
But the glaring distortions and derogatory undercurrent he said continue even after one year. For instance the history book "Bharat Ka Vrihat Itihas" for intermediate contains a lesson titled ascendance of Islam.
On page no 266 it says, "When residents of Mecca began to oppose Mohammed Saheb and there was a threat to his life, he ran away to Madina. ...Mohammed Saheb propagated Islam on the strength of sheer military power".
"Instead of an objectionable 'he ran away to Madina' (woh Madina bhag gaye) they could have written, he went away to Madina," corrects Usmani. The same lesson says that the "Muslims had a very low moral character and they did not think twice before humiliating Hindu women".
Another history book for intermediate, Madhyamik Bharat Ka Itihas, maintains that "Shah Jehan was a fanatic (kattarpanthi Muslim) and greatly intolerant of Hindu religion. He demolished three temples in Gujarat and five temples in Banaras and Allahabad." There are no details of the temples demolished.
Then page 150 has a reference claiming that "mosques at Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura by their architecture indicate that they were built after demolishing temples".
The book also accused Emperor Humayun of temple desecration. In fact the list of questions at the end of the lesson also has anti-Muslim undertone like Aurangzeb ke do Hindu virodhi karya bataiye (narrate two anti Hindu measures taken by Auragzeb.)
Similarly, Samajik Vigyan the text book for class X credits Sir Syed Ahmad for political awakening among Muslims but adds "however on the flip side this led to the rise of communalism in India, (Page 168).
The Council has demanded a compulsory screening of all text books by a committee comprising all sects and religions, says HU Azmi, secretary of the council. Justice Rajendra Sachar had taken note of our findings, he declared. "Now we wait for Yadav to prove his secular credentials by washing off the saffron streaks," he added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Ci...show/739111.cms
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