Karnataka govt decides to drop Class VI lesson that mocked Hindu religious beliefs

A controversy had broken out in Karnataka after several people raised objections over certain derogatory content against Hindu religious beliefs in the curriculum of Class VI social science textbooks. According to the reports, Eshapriya Theertha Swami – the seer of the prominent Admar Mutt of the Udupi had raised objections about a lesson in the Class VI textbooks, which had mocked the Hindu traditions of ‘yaga’ or ‘yagna’.

The seer had raised the matter before state education minister Suresh Kumar and had apprised him of such content. Reportedly, the seer had also informed the minister that there are a few rules and regulations for ‘yaga’ in Bhagavatha.

The Poorna Prajna Education Centre, one of the top most education institutions in the state is run under the aegis of the Udupi Sri Admar Mutt.

Following the controversy, the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar has now ordered teachers to drop the controversial lesson from the social science curriculum.

The minister said, “The controversial lesson was not printed this year. The syllabus has not been revised this year. Controversial lessons will be removed from the textbook from next year. As the textbook has already reached the children, it is not possible to remove the lesson. The government will take the utmost care to ensure that such mistakes do not recur in the future.”