Throwing political correctness and sensitivity to the wind, the books authored by Dinanath Batra prescribed as compulsory reading in Gujarat schools advocate a blatant form of racism.
Mr. Batra’s writings for schools have been compiled under the series titled Prernadeep. They carry a foreword by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and State Education Minister Bhupendrasingh Chudasama. In a story titled Courageous Gurdev Singh , an African American is not only described by the racist term “negro” he is also dehumanised as he receives beating and is tied up like a “buffalo”.
The lines are from the story of how an Indian man tries to stop an African American criminal from escaping from an aircraft.
“An Indian youth came forward and gave a strong blow to the negro … The pilot too came and the two thrashed the negro and tied him with a rope. The criminal struggled like a tied buffalo.”
The colour of one’s skin is again highlighted in a story on Lord Krishna’s complexion, which is glorified. In the story, a saint asks a student the reason for Krishna’s “blue” complexion. The student replies, “Krishna’s glory is infinite like the blue sky and the blue sea.”
Short historical tales are intermingled with mythological tales making no distinction between fact and fiction.
