Run for Jesus * Dalits to protest over Ambedkar’s derogatory cartoon

Karnataka, April 04, 2012: Kindly join us in RUN FOR JESUS organised by Aradana TV Christian Channel on Sat Apr 7th at 7am from Trinity church to St. Marks Church via St. Andrews Church.

– pericho prabhu

Dalits to protest over Ambedkar’s derogatory cartoon

Maharashtra, April 4, 2012: The cartoon is in the political science textbook of class XI.

Dalits in Maharashtra have threatened to launch an agitation over depicting B. R. Ambedkar in a “derogatory” manner in one of the school textbooks.

Ramdan Athawale of the Republican Party of India demanded the withdrawal of the political science book of the class XI graders where Ambedkar is shown in a cartoon.

He also demanded resignation of federal Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal under whose aegis the book was cleared.

The textbook is published by National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT), under the human resources development ministry.

The cartoon, credited to Shankar’s Children’s Book Trust, appears in chapter I, titled “Indian Constitution at Work” in the political science subject.

The chapter in the NCERT book discussed about making of the Indian Constitution after Indian gained independence in 1947.

It also carries a small box item, which according to Athawale, “lampoons” B.R. Ambedkar astride a snail with reins in hand and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru standing behind brandishing a whip.

“Even the content describing the making of constitution is also quite biased. It tries to project B.R. Ambedkar as a mere critic and that the drafts were prepared by several committees formed at the time,” Athawale alleged.

He said that his party has complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sibal but received no reply from them.

“We have never claimed that the entire Constitution was written by Ambedkar, but the fact remains that the final draft was not only cleared by him but also envisaged by him,” he added.

– tcn