Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar has directed the Karnataka Textbook Society (KTBS) committee to hold a meeting and decide if the lessons regarding Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan should remain or be removed from school textbooks.
The Minister, in a letter to KTBS on Monday, said the history textbook committee should also invite Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan to the meeting. He said KTBS should weigh the pros and cons carefully and submit a report in the next three days.
The move comes after Mr. Ranjan had sparked off a controversy by writing to Mr. Suresh Kumar urging him to remove all lessons pertaining to Tipu Sultan, describing him a “fanatic”. He said that lessons on the ruler, who died in a battle with the British, needs to be removed and “lessons instilling patriotism” should be included instead. The move to remove lessons on Tipu Sultan from the textbooks has, however, been vehemently opposed by several historians. Writer Baragur Ramachandrappa, who was part of the textbook revision committee appointed by the Congress government, said it was wrong to erase Tipu Sultan from history textbooks. “Students need to learn about all the rulers. The lessons for high school students are objective and state information on his life and contributions,” he told The Hindu last week. The BJP government scrapped Tipu Jayanti celebrations, which had become an annual feature since 2016 when the Congress was in power.
‘Hand over medical seat scam to CBI’
The Janmabhoomi Foundation has submitted a letter to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa demanding that the medical seat-blocking scam should be handed over to the CBI. Foundation president Nataraj Sharma S. said 16 private and deemed-to-be medical colleges in the State were allegedly involved. He also said that all documents had been given to the Chief Minister to substantiate their claims.
