J&K knocked out of India in Maharashtra SSC textbooks

This year's newly-published SSC textbooks in Maharashtra have depicted a large portion of the border state Jammu and Kashmir out of the country, besides carrying a faulty picture of the national tricolour, Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said here on Thursday.

In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he demanded a probe and immediate arrest of those found guilty of this grave faux pas in the Class 10 Geography textbook.

Vikhe-Patil pointed out that these serious errors have come up in the textbooks recently published by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production & Curriculum Research for the academic year starting 2018.

"In chapter 3, page 24, a map of India is published but it is very erroneous as a large part of Jammu & Kashmir is not shown within the borders of the country," he said in the letter.

Similarly, in chapter 2, page 9, the national flag has been published in which the colour of the Ashoka Chakra is wrong.

He said the textbook had been kept for review in a seminar in Pune sometime ago when former school Principal K.U. Sonawane and others raised serious objections, both oral and written, to make the necessary corrections.

"However, the required changes were not made and the textbooks carry the wrong images of India and the national tricolour, besides many other mistakes which have crept into the book," Vikhe-Patil said.

Seeking complaints against the persons concerned and their immediate arrest, he demanded that after consulting experts, all the mistakes must be corrected and a revised version should be made available for the students from the next academic year.

--IANS

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