Civil Society Organization Protests the Omissions of New religions from Textbooks

Vinod Kakumanu
Feb. 25, 2021, 3:20 p.m.

An organization known as Swaraj Abhiyan Karnataka has alleged “saffornization” of education citing omission of content related to the new religions—Buddhism and Jainism from the chapters of class 6 Social Science textbooks.

The comments from the organization came in response to an earlier development wherein the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) removed two odd pages from the chapter titled “birth of new religions” of class 6 social science. These pages reportedly contained commentary on the early Vedic Practices and advent on Buddhism and Jainism as well.

The omission of the content was elicited by a plea made by the Brahmin Development Board to the Chief Minister. The organization pleaded that the content in the pages in question offended a certain section. The plea was presumably heard and Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar instructed the DPI to take action and execute the omission.

This move of the DPI has anathematized certain groups and has attracted criticism from certain quarters including Swaraj Abhiyaan Karnataka. The organization has called the move saffornization of education and has called for rescinding it.

“The removal of information about the later Vedic period is nothing but an attempt to saffronise the syllabus by undermining the teachings of Buddhism and Jainism, which, however, are very relevant today,” reads the press release by Swaraj Abhiyan Karnataka.

The decision to remove the “offending” pages came two weeks after a committee was constituted to look into the matter and recommend a resolution.