Now, Jawaharlal Nehru excluded from Mumbai University textbook

Mumbai: Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s name has been reportedly omitted from new Mumbai University textbooks.

According to a report, it has emerged that while there are chapters on several important Indian leaders in Mumbai University’s Institute of Distance and Open Learning textbook for the Political Science course, there is not a single one on India’s first Prime Minister Nehru.

Read: Jawaharlal Nehru erased from new Class 8 textbooks in Rajasthan

But this is not where the controversy ends. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi have been labelled anti-secular in the textbook.

The reason? According to the report, the book blames Mahatma Gandhi for using too many ‘Hindu idioms and similes’ and pushing Muhammad Ali Jinnah to break away and form Pakistan. As for Tilak, it claims that ‘starting of Ganesh festival and invoking religious scriptures such as Bhagvad Gita for political actions were clear examples of mixing religion with politics, and thus categorically anti-secular.’

According to the book, only the Left did not indulge in ‘politics of religion’ during the Independence struggle. However, Surendra Jondhale, who compiled the book and is also the university’s course coordinator and the head of the Civics and Politics department, defended himself. “With this statement, it was actually meant to present that politics has to be kept away from religion and shouldn’t be mixed. But Tilak’s actions were contrary to this.”

Last week, a raging controversy had erupted when it was revealed that Class 8 textbooks in Rajasthan had excluded any mention of Jawaharlal Nehru in the history of independent India. It had led to the Congress slamming the BJP government in Rajasthan for ‘saffronisation of education’. However, state School Education Minister Vasudev Devnani had claimed the revised syllabus has the first prime minister's name at 15 places in different textbooks.