Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka over reports about the removal of a lesson about Bhagat Singh from a school textbook, saying it is an insult to the sacrifice made by the iconic freedom fighter. Furthermore, the Aam Aadmi Party convenor requested the decision be reversed.
In a tweet, Kejriwal said the country will not tolerate insult to its martyrs and asked the BJP why “its people” dislike Bhagat Singh so much.
Kejriwal’s reaction came a day after a few organisations, including All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC), claimed that the Karnataka government omitted a lesson on Bhagat Singh and inserted a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in a revised Kannada textbook for Class 10 students.
“Why do BJP people hate Amar Shaheed Sardar Bhagat Singh ji so much? Removal of Sardar Bhagat Singh ji’s name from school books is an insult to the sacrifice of the amar shaheed,” tweeted Kejriwal in Hindi.
The Delhi CM added: “The country will not tolerate such humiliation of its martyrs at all. The BJP government will have to take back this decision.”
In its response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called the deletion of Bhagat Singh’s chapter from the Kannada textbook “shameful” and urged the Karnataka government to restore it.
“SHAMEFUL. BJP’s Karnataka govt REMOVES chapter on Bhagat Singh ji from School Books. Why does BJP hate Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh ji so much? BJP must take back this decision. India will not tolerate such humiliation of our freedom fighters,” AAP tweeted from its official Twitter handle.
Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, BC Nagesh, defended the inclusion of a speech by Hedgewar in a revised Kannada textbook for Class X students.
Nagesh further insisted that the textbook is not about Hedgewar or RSS, and only contains his speech on what he hopes to inspire people, especially the youth, and those who have questioned the textbook haven’t read it.
