Cong leader alleges J&K 'knocked off' India's map in Maha textbooks; Dept counters claim

Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil today alleged that the newly-published SSC textbooks in Maharashtra have India map without a part of Jammu and Kashmir and also a wrong picture of the national flag, even as the agency responsible for these books countered the claims.

In his letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Vikhe Patil sought a probe and arrest of those guilty of this "error" in the Class 10 geography textbook published by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research for the ensuing academic year.

"In chapter 3, page 24, a map of India is published but it is very erroneous as a large part of Jammu and Kashmir is not shown within the borders of the country," said Vikhe-Patil, leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly.

Similarly, in chapter 2 on page 9, a picture of the national flag has been published with wrong colour of the Ashoka Chakra, he alleged.

Reacting to the allegations, the bureau director Sunil Magar said the colour of the Ashok Chakra as printed in the textbook is as per the flag code.

"While printing a picture with four colours, there can be changes in the colour shades. It is due to technical limitations. This is mentioned on the first page of the textbook," Magar said in a statement.

On alleged errors in the map of India with reference to Jammu and Kashmir, Magar said the image on page 24 is not the political map of India.

"It is a digital elevation model to make the natural landscape of the Indian land mass clear. The design is helpful to students for solving questions for self-study," he said.

The new syllabus was made available for review before publication of the textbook and former professor K U Sonavane had objected to it, Vikhe-Patil said in his letter.

"Sonavane pointed out many mistakes including the wrong map and tricolour but his objections were ignored," he said.

Vikhe-Patil demanded that the geography textbook be withdrawn and the mistakes be rectified after consultations with experts.