Mysuru: Textbooks should talk of truth but not someone’s ideologies, said well-known Kannada Novelist, Litterateur and Saraswati Samman awardee Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Thursday June 2 over controversy surrounding the revision of school textbooks, he said, Textbooks should only throw light on the truth. There is no room for one’s ideologies. He said when Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had mooted revision of the textbooks, many writers decided to return their awards as a mark of protest. I told
them to do so along with the cash award. Then there was silence all over, he said.
Dr Bhyrappa said, “I can’t take a stand on the revision of textbooks. I am only revealing what happened in the past. As Prime Minister,
Indira Gandhi had also favoured revision of books. However, I was kept out of the book revision committee because I was against ideologies.
To another question, he said, “History about Mahabaleshwara in Maharashtra has been distorted. The man who had come to kill Chatrapati Shivaji has been made to look like a hero. I came to know the truth after I visited the place. Our politicians try to take advantage of the situation. They will stoop to any level during elections, he said.
He further said Rangayana Director Addanda C. Cariappa is a Kodava. When he spoke about Tipu Sultan’s atrocities in one of his speeches, there was a widespread protest for his ouster though it was not successful. No one is interested in knowing the ground realities.”
Reacting to the alleged attack on Primary and Secondary Education
Minister B. C. Nagesh’s house, the veteran writer said, “It is definitely politically motivated. How can we talk of unity in the
country when this is the state of affairs?”