After a political row erupted over a school quiz in Kerala, a teacher from Kumbla sub-district was held responsible for preparing the question paper and suspended amid an ongoing enquiry. The controversy broke out after a quiz question described Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar as a freedom fighter “who received the most severe punishment from the British”.
The role of Guru Prasad, a teacher at AUPS Pallathadka, has come under the scanner for formulating the questions of the ‘Freedom Quiz’ competition held at schools in Kasaragod, Kumbla and Manjeshwaram sub-districts on August 6.
Announcing the step taken against the teacher, general education minister N Samsudheen’s office said, “Following the directions of the General Education Minister, the Director of General Education suspended Guru Prasad, a teacher at AUPS Pallathadka in Kumbla sub-district, pending an inquiry.”
The office further said the question was allegedly framed in a manner that could lead to dissemination of “misleading and historically unsupported information”.
Earlier, the minister directed the Director of General Education to take stringent action against those responsible. The minister’s office said the controversial quiz was not included in the official activity calendars of either the Social Science Club or the General Education Department. Neither body had authorised anyone to independently prepare the questions or conduct the competition. “The person who included the historically incorrect question holds a prejudiced view,” the statement said.
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The disputed question asked which freedom fighter received the “most severe punishment” from the British, with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar listed as the answer.
The question drew strong criticism from the CPI(M) and Left student and youth organisations, which accused the Congress-led UDF government of promoting a “sangh parivar agenda” in education.
Senior CPM leader and former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the UDF government of “colluding” with the RSS to hide Savarkar’s “real history” and glorify him. Vijayan accused the Centre and the RSS of “attempting to rewrite history”, while raising concerns over the Centre’s efforts to implement its new education policy in Kerala.
Former General education minister V Sivankutty alleged attempts at “saffronising” the state’s general education sector and distorting the history of India’s freedom struggle.
