BENGALURU: The People’s Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education (PAFRE) on Tuesday released a statement criticising the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) third language Kannada textbook for Class 6, alleging that it fails to represent Karnataka’s cultural and regional diversity adequately.
“There are no lessons that reflect the cultural and social diversity of Karnataka. The folklore, literature and lifestyles of coastal Karnataka, North Karnataka, Malnad and the Old Mysuru regions are missing. The narration is boring and has a preachy tone,” said PAFRE chief convenor Niranjanaradhya VP.
He also alleged that naming the textbook as ‘Krishna’ was part of the NCERT’s attempt to “saffronise” the Kannada curriculum. “The identity of Karnataka lies in the ideology of Pampa, Kuvempu, Karanta and Basavanna. But NCERT has named the textbook Krishna. It is condemnable that NCERT is moving forward with religion-based politics while ignoring Karnataka’s cultural and ideological heritage,” he said.
According to him, the alleged saffronisation extends to the lesson Arogya Ve Bhagya, in which the food plate depicted shows only bread, rice, vegetables, milk, and fruits, while eggs, fish, and meat are absent.
“Is Karnataka represented only by ragi mudde and bassaru? What about the crores of people who consume pandi
curry, fish soup and kheema balls? Where are eggs, fish, chicken, mutton, the fish eaten by a coastal child, or the jolada rotti and oil cake eaten by a child from North Karnataka? This is a deliberate attempt to ignore meat-based diets,” Prof. VP alleged.
PAFRE demanded that the NCERT withdraw what it termed the political content in school textbooks and sought an explanation from the organisation.