A day after announcing that content related to 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara in the revised school textbooks would be suitably edited so as not to “hurt community sentiments”, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday described his government as one that treads “Basava Patha” (the path of Basava).
Seers of Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, a strong base for the ruling BJP, have been up in arms opposing what they call inappropriate portrayal of Basaveshwara and his principles. “Any anomalies in the review of textbooks would be taken seriously and they would be rectified based on facts,” Mr. Bommai said on Saturday.
However, he was non-committal on demands for revision from other quarters. Also, replying to a question on inclusion of a lesson based on the speech of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Mr. Bommai stated firmly that it would stay in the textbook.
The textbook review committee, led by Rohith Chakrathirtha, had been dissolved as it had completed its task, he said. “Many seers have conveyed their views on the revised textbooks and appropriate action would be taken after considering them. “Ours is a government treading the Basava patha,” he said, insisting that there were very few differences between the text reviewed by the Baragur Ramachandrappa committee in 2015 during the Congress regime and the present one.
