08-19-2006, 12:00 AM
Follow-up story about the NCERT textbooks issue from Pioneer 19 Aug 2006
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Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
<b>Centre orders probe into portrayal of freedom fighters as terrorists </b>
The controversy over distortion of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks saw a major uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Friday forcing the <b>Government to order an inquiry into portrayal of country's legendary freedom fighters as terrorists and inclusion of other objectionable issues.
With the NCERT already in the eye of a storm over inclusion of several communally sensitive issues like Babri demolition, Sikh riots and Gujarat riots, the Government was placed on the back foot by the combined Opposition. </b>
The issue rocked the upper House when the BJP-led Opposition strongly protested against alleged distortions and objectionable language in the NCERT school textbooks.
The Left and the Samajwadi Party and even some Congress members also backed the demand for a probe.
<b>"This is a very urgent matter and I request the Government to conduct a probe into how these books have come about. This requires immediate action," said CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury .</b>
Sensing the mood of the House, the Government assured the Elders that the Ministry would examine the issue and do the needful.
<b>The House saw uproar when Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) read out portions from the NCERT books which carried objectionable language and describing freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak as "terrorists."
"Bipin Chandra's book was reintroduced and revised. The book accuses Jats of robbery. What's worse, it calls Lok Manya Tilak, Arvindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal terrorists," said Prasad.</b>
Almost the entire Opposition demanded a probe and immediate action against the writer of the books, which according to them, were included in the syllabus this year. The BJP members walked into the well of the House seeking permission to submit the books to the Chair.
<b>Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan denied the permission to table the books and said it was against the rules and urged the agitated members to go back to their seats.</b> The House then saw sharp exchanges between the BJP and treasury benches with the Congress members countering the charge initially claiming that it was unlikely that such books were part of the school curriculum.
The treasury benches later came around to the Opposition view that the matter was serious and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri assured the House that he would convey the sentiments of the members to the concerned ministry.
Prasad said the <b>books also contained derogatory references to various communities and castes and obscene language besides suggestions to girl students to use cosmetics and that education and merit alone did not ensure progress in life.
He said the books allegedly termed Jat community as marauders and disparaging depiction of some other castes, adding it would pollute the minds of impressionable minds. </b>The deputy chairman expressed concern over this and said the matter was serious.
Amidst the din, Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress) said if these allegations were true, the Government should look into it. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh aired similar views and asked the Government to take suitable action against the guilty people and Sitaram Yechury agreed with this suggestion.
Seeking a probe into the alleged distortions, Abani Roy (RSP) said such books should be banned and Vijay Darda (Congress) said the distortion should be set right and an inquiry ordered to find out who had done such a thing. The din died down when Pachauri assured the members that the Government will take the matter seriously.
Another important issue to come up in the Zero Hour was the alleged irregularities in the evaluation of answer sheets of students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The matter was raised by Alka Balram Kshatriya (Congress) and Sushma Swaraj (BJP) and they expressed concern over school students examining answer papers of graduation and post- graduation students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University and demanded action by the University Grants Commission.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BJP corners Govt on NCERT textbooks
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
<b>Centre orders probe into portrayal of freedom fighters as terrorists </b>
The controversy over distortion of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks saw a major uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Friday forcing the <b>Government to order an inquiry into portrayal of country's legendary freedom fighters as terrorists and inclusion of other objectionable issues.
With the NCERT already in the eye of a storm over inclusion of several communally sensitive issues like Babri demolition, Sikh riots and Gujarat riots, the Government was placed on the back foot by the combined Opposition. </b>
The issue rocked the upper House when the BJP-led Opposition strongly protested against alleged distortions and objectionable language in the NCERT school textbooks.
The Left and the Samajwadi Party and even some Congress members also backed the demand for a probe.
<b>"This is a very urgent matter and I request the Government to conduct a probe into how these books have come about. This requires immediate action," said CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury .</b>
Sensing the mood of the House, the Government assured the Elders that the Ministry would examine the issue and do the needful.
<b>The House saw uproar when Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) read out portions from the NCERT books which carried objectionable language and describing freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak as "terrorists."
"Bipin Chandra's book was reintroduced and revised. The book accuses Jats of robbery. What's worse, it calls Lok Manya Tilak, Arvindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal terrorists," said Prasad.</b>
Almost the entire Opposition demanded a probe and immediate action against the writer of the books, which according to them, were included in the syllabus this year. The BJP members walked into the well of the House seeking permission to submit the books to the Chair.
<b>Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan denied the permission to table the books and said it was against the rules and urged the agitated members to go back to their seats.</b> The House then saw sharp exchanges between the BJP and treasury benches with the Congress members countering the charge initially claiming that it was unlikely that such books were part of the school curriculum.
The treasury benches later came around to the Opposition view that the matter was serious and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri assured the House that he would convey the sentiments of the members to the concerned ministry.
Prasad said the <b>books also contained derogatory references to various communities and castes and obscene language besides suggestions to girl students to use cosmetics and that education and merit alone did not ensure progress in life.
He said the books allegedly termed Jat community as marauders and disparaging depiction of some other castes, adding it would pollute the minds of impressionable minds. </b>The deputy chairman expressed concern over this and said the matter was serious.
Amidst the din, Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress) said if these allegations were true, the Government should look into it. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh aired similar views and asked the Government to take suitable action against the guilty people and Sitaram Yechury agreed with this suggestion.
Seeking a probe into the alleged distortions, Abani Roy (RSP) said such books should be banned and Vijay Darda (Congress) said the distortion should be set right and an inquiry ordered to find out who had done such a thing. The din died down when Pachauri assured the members that the Government will take the matter seriously.
Another important issue to come up in the Zero Hour was the alleged irregularities in the evaluation of answer sheets of students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The matter was raised by Alka Balram Kshatriya (Congress) and Sushma Swaraj (BJP) and they expressed concern over school students examining answer papers of graduation and post- graduation students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University and demanded action by the University Grants Commission.
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