The protests against the revisions in textbooks are not futile. The Kannada writers objecting to the new texts on the block are raising pertinent questions: What, after all, is the narrative of Karnataka? What should textbooks be composed of to weave the spirit and being of Karnataka into the minds of young learners? What kind of texts will socialise them as citizens of the world who live in India, who belong to the state of Karnataka— a country that the Constitution defines as a ‘Union of States’? If K V Puttappa gets truncated in a text, will the mind of readers have a place for vishwamanavata or universal humanism and develop a sacred affinity with their native Kannada Nadu? That love for Karnataka cannot come by merely using bombastic Sanskritised words or absurd English abbreviations — a tendency rife in the present regime. If Devanur Mahadeva, a champion of freedom of expression and an outstanding writer, withdrew permission to use his Edege Bidda Akshara in textbooks, this should serve as enough of a reason for the government to halt its ideological cleansing and revisionist programme.
GN Devy, ‘The spirit of Karnataka in jeopardy in textbooks’, Deccan Herald