Seven additional authors have withdrawn permission to utilise their works in textbooks

on Jun 01, 2022

On Tuesday, a total of seven authors cancelled permission to utilise their writings in the newly amended textbooks, bringing the total number of writers to ten.

Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy, a writer, wrote a letter to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B.C. Nagesh, raising concerns about the saffronisation of textbooks, misleading information about Basavanna, and defamatory statements about Kuvempu made by textbook review committee chairperson Rohith Chakrathirtha.

Veerappa M. Kambali, poet Roopa Hasan, Chandrashekhara Talya, Saraju Katkar, and Madhu have also requested that their texts not be used. In her letter to the Minister, Ms. Hasan stated that the newly amended textbooks violated the principles of the National Curriculum Framework-2005 and the Constitution.

Bolwar Mahammad Kunhi, a two-time Sahitya Akademi Award recipient, has also written and posted a letter to Mr. Nagesh requested that his story Sullu Helabaradu (should not lie) be removed from the Class V textbook.

On a satirical note, Mr. Kunhi stated that the values of his story may differ from those of the other lessons in the newly revised textbook, which would confuse youngsters, and he requested that the government include a text that is consistent with the values of the other lessons in the textbook.

Senior writers Devanur Mahadeva, G. Ramakrishna, and S.G. Siddaramaiah had previously withdrawn permission to use their works to protest the manner the textbooks had been changed.

Mr. Nagesh, on the other hand, recently stated that it was too late to revoke authorization to use any texts because the new textbooks had already been printed.