Gujarat School Book Faces Racism Issue

Racism issue hits a school book of Gujarat. A compulsory reading book in Gujarat schools, authored by Dinanath Batra is said to be carrying a wave of racism through various short stories, written in the book.

The book has a story titled ‘Courageous Gurdev Singh’ in which an African American is described as “negro”, which is said to be a racist term. Not only this, but the story revolves in portraying the man as a criminal for which he is beaten up in an inhuman manner. The lines are “An Indian youth came forward and gave a strong blow to the negro … The pilot too came and the two thrashed the negro and tied him with a rope. The criminal struggled like a tied buffalo.”

Apart from this, the book also carries a story in which the colour of one’s skin is emphasized. The story revolves around Lord Krishna where his skin complexion is said as ‘blue’.

The book titled Prernadeep carries Batra’s good number of writings. It also carries an introduction penned down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and State Education Minister Bhupendrasingh Chudasama.