http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1292892.cms
Saturday, November 12, 2005 01:25:06 am
GANDHINAGAR: Finding that the uncritical references to Adolf Hitler in a class 9 social science textbook was having international ramifications, the Narendra Modi government withdrew the ten-page chapter — 'Present Currents of World History' — where the German dictator was called a 'nationalist' and a 'socialist'.
An education department official said the chapter "ceases to be part of the syllabus". A letter dated October 29, 2005 written by Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board secretary BV Nanavati has been sent to all district educational officers in this regard.
The withdrawal was declared a day after Israel's consul-general Daniel Zohar Zonshire, who was on a visit to the state, indicated in Vadodara that he would write to the Gujarat government protesting against the glorification of Hitler.
The objectionable portions in the textbook, which was published this year, were first highlighted in the media by TOI on July 23, 2005, after which it received world-wide condemnation.
Significantly, the chapter makes no reference to the most gruesome genocide in history. After the furore, a revision of the textbook was being planned by the government by describing Hitler as "cruel", without referring to the systematic decimation of Jews during World War II.
More recently, a rebel BJP MLA cited references to Hitler in the textbook to castigate Modi. Officials said on Friday that a completely revised chapter would be added to the class 9 textbook for the academic year 2006-07.
The chapter, significantly, will be written by selected teachers from Gujarat-based Kendriya Vidyalayas, instead of Gujarat's own committee of educationists involved in preparing the state textbooks.
Apart from the omission of the Holocaust, the chapter contains too much truth apparently - we know where nationalism and socialism end up, don't we?