Karnataka mulls to delete paras from class 6 text book that hurt sentiments of Brahmins

On Thursday, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar ordered the Commissioner for Public Instruction (CPI) to take action to delete the related paras from the Class VI Social Science textbook, which is perceived to be insinuating remarks against the Brahmin community.

In his note, Kumar claimed that the paras that appear on pages 82 and 83 are irrelevant and are not appropriate for such a young age.

“ The CPI must take steps to issue a circular to drop this lesson from the syllabus with immediate effect,” he stated in his note.

The Minister’s note sent to the CPI mentioned that lesson number 7 of the Class VI Social Science textbook ‘The Emergency of New Religions’ mentions that Brahmins used to give sacrifices like farm animals, and offered milk and ghee to the Fire God during ‘havan,’ which caused food shortage at that time.

Quoting the textbook excerpts, Kumar said that Kshatriyas, who had to advise Brahmins all the time, were fed up and were responsible for introducing new religions into society. “Kashtraiyas are the ones who have encouraged new religions, such as Jainism and Buddhism, to flourish in the country,” said the minister in his note.

“Such anomalies that have crept into the text book need to be dropped as they hurt religious sentiments,” he said in his note.