Eminent civil society members today alleged "saffornisation and valourisation of regional heroes" in school textbooks in some states and demanded constitution of a national commission to evaluate books of social sciences and humanities to avoid "distortion" of facts.
The members, who include historian Romila Thapar, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, said "such texts distracts from our fraternal, secular, plural, inclusive and democratic ideals and tend to introduce biases in young and impressionable minds."
In a a joint statement, they said various "distortions of fact, interpretation and emphasis have crept into certain history and social sciences textbooks in Karnataka and other states".
"They contain elements of saffornisation and valorisation of specific regional heroes, ethnic identities and faith-based communities in a manner that does not do justice to or even denigrate others," the statement said.
They pointed out various chapters in SSC textbooks from class 5 upto 9 contain "distorted" facts.
They suggested constitution of a National Conference to evaluate textbooks in these streams in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National Curriculum Framework of 2005.
The National Curriculum Framework laid down guidelines regarding the publication of biased facts in text books across India in 2005.
