Mask reference to RSS in Class 10 books, says govt

Hearing a writ petition, the Madras High Court had recently issued direction to remove the objectionable content against the RSS in Class 10 textbooks printed by the Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation. Obeying the court’s order, the School Education department stopped distributing the textbooks to schools and as well as to its retailers.

The lines printed on page number 50 in volume two of the textbook reportedly stated that the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS took a pronounced anti-Muslim stance during the nation’s freedom struggle which had resulted in the partition of the country.

However, in order to implement the court’s order in full, the Tamil Nadu State Council of Education and Research (SCERT), the nodal agency in preparing the curriculum for all classes, has instructed school headmasters to ensure that the controversial lines be “hidden” in the textbooks.

A senior SCERT official told DT Next that the order was also circulated to matriculation schools and self-financing institutions.

Accordingly, school management have instructed students through their teachers to mask the controversial content by pasting a black piece of paper over it.

However, Tamil Nadu Teachers Association president P K Ilamaran said that the government move to mask the content would only raise curiosity among students, who would then tend to read the controversial content again.