After the recent Rajasthan textbook controversy, a fresh debate has erupted in Maharashtra over the demand to introduce controversial Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s biography in schools and colleges. Former Shiv Sena MP Bharatkumar Raut made the demand before BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday. However, scholars and academicians have slammed the demand, terming it as an attempt to saffronise textbooks.
Objecting to the demand, Satyashodhak Communist Party leader, professor Pratima Pardeshi said it would lead to the glorification of the Hindutva icon. “Savarkar’s views were anti-Muslim and anti-women. He supported the two-nation theory. Books have been written about the negative side of his character. But here, they are talking about his glorification. It is nothing but Brahmnisation of history,” he said.
