Karnataka : ‘Savarkar used to fly on the bulbul’, questions raised on the passage of class 8th book

An excerpt from a class 8 textbook of a Karnataka school is going viral which claims that Hindu ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to fly on the back of a Bulbul bird. Criticizing it, many people have said that such a passage will confuse the students. At the same time, the creators of the book say that these words have been deliberately used to make the passage beautiful.

The issue has also given rise to discussions over the government’s decision to revise textbooks. This book was amended by the controversial Rohit Chakratirth Committee, which is now dissolved. After this passage went viral, questions are being raised whether children should be taught such things that they get confused.

What is the passage of class 8 textbook
The passage is part of the Class 8 Kannada (Second Language) textbook and is taken from a chapter named VD Savarkar. The current text of the textbook ‘Kalavannu Geddavaru’ has been written by Kannada writer KT Gatti. It has been added to the book in place of the previous text ‘Blood Group’ which was written by Vijaymala Ranganatha.

The chapter introduces VD Savarkar to the students and is followed by a travelogue, which talks about Savarkar’s time in the Cellular Jail in Andaman from 1911 to 1924. The passage reads, “The room where Savarkar was kept in jail did not even have a small keyhole. However, Bulbul birds used to come from somewhere into the room on whose wings Savarkar sat and travel to the motherland every day. would fly for.”