The government on Wednesday assured the Rajya Sabha that it would look into a Shiv Sena member’s demand to remove certain anomalies regarding Maratha leaders in CBSE history books.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Bharatkumar Raut said that out of 2,100 pages in the CBSE history books from Class 7 to 12, only one-and-a-half pages were dedicated to Maratha history and Shivaji.
Mr Raut added that while the contribution of Shivaji is dismissed in only a line-and-a-half, that of Maharana Pratap is written in just one line.
He said “wrong references” are made to Sufi saints from Maharashtra and some are also referred to as “untouchables”.
“What kind of nationalism are we spreading?” Mr Raut said.
Alleging that wrong references are made to Shivaji in the history books by CBSE, he said, “Why do you want to distort history? What will the children learn?”
Supporting the demand to remove such anomalies in history books, Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) said that two years ago, there were wrong references made to Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose. “The same mistakes are being carried on. The way Shivaji and Maharana Prat-ap are just given a passing mention is not acceptable, as they are national icons.”
With several members supporting the demand, deputy chairman P.J. Kurien told the House, “I think parliamentary affairs minister should bring this to the notice of the HRD minister,” adding, “I have asked the government to look into it and act.”
Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajeev Shukla said, “The government is concerned about national icons. There should be no reference that affects them. I will bring it to the notice of the HRD minister if it hurts the sentiments of some.”