Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar. (Image: X/@madandilawar)
Dilawar said, “Many textbooks state that Savarkar was not a patriot. Akbar is considered a great man while Shivaji is called a ‘hill rat’ and the role of Maharana Pratap is downplayed compared to Akbar’s. Such statements are not acceptable and will be reviewed.”
Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar on Sunday announced that Mughal emperor Akbar will no longer be taught as a great person in schools.
He criticised Akbar, saying he had plundered the country for years and said that in future no one would be allowed to praise the Mughal emperor as a ‘great personality’.
The minister made this remark at a programme organized on the occasion of the 28th state level “Bhamashah Samman Samaroh” at Vivekananda Auditorium of Sukhadia University, Udaipur.
Expressing grief, the Education Minister said that Maharana Pratap, who sacrificed everything for the honor of Mewar, was never given the status of greatness.
He highlighted that education is the supreme duty and every penny given by Bhamashah will be properly utilized for this purpose.
In January this year, Madan Dilawar had called Mughal emperor Akbar a “rapist” and demanded removal of references to him as a “great personality” from school textbooks.
His remarks were made in response to discussions about significant amendments to school textbooks following the change in government.
He said during a press conference on January 30, “We don’t need to make any changes in the syllabus, but content that contains any unethical statements or insults great men will be removed. There is a lot of misleading information about our ancestors like Veer Savarkar and Shivaji. Those statements will be corrected.”
Dilawar further said, “Many textbooks state that Savarkar was not a patriot. While Akbar is considered a great man, Shivaji is called a ‘hill rat’ and the role of Maharana Pratap is downplayed compared to Akbar’s. Such statements are not acceptable and will be reviewed.”
Meanwhile, the Education Minister on Sunday praised the tradition of Bhamashahs in Rajasthan and said that in 1997, former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had started the tradition of taking support from Bhamashahs.
He said that Rajasthan is the land of sacrifice, penance, courage and valour.
He told how Bhama Shah had donated his entire wealth to Maharana Pratap when he had to live in the forests.
He concluded by describing Rajasthan as the land of great men and heroic deeds and emphasised the inspiring legacy of Maharana Pratap, Bhama Shah and tribal leader Govind Guru.
(This story has not been edited by AyraNews24x7 staff and is published from syndicated news agency feeds.) IANS,
