Social science textbooks for Class VII-VIII students of government-run schools in Gujarat state that Mahatma Gandhi was killed on October 30 and new country named 'Islamic Islamabad' was constituted after partition
Even as people are dealing with Africans being referred to as ‘N*****s’ in SSC textbooks in Maharashtra, it's neighbouring state of Gujarat too seems to have errors galore in their history textbook leaving the state officials red-faced.
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Social science textbooks that are studied by around 50,000 Class 6-8 students of government-run English-medium schools in Gujarat are being taught that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on October 30, 1948.
According to media reports, the same textbook also states that it was Japan, which 'launched a nuclear attack on the US'. Another blooper relates to the formation of a new country called 'Islamic Islamabad' was constituted after the Partition with its capital at 'Khyber Ghat' in the Hindu Kush mountains. And of course, the all South Indians are ‘madrasis’ according to the book.
A panel of experts put the textbooks together from the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT) and Gujarat State Board for School Textbooks (GSBST), who decide the curriculum.
These were the same textbooks in which a chapter on the life and times of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was proposed, only to be shot down by the BJP leader himself.
It is not just factual errors or grammatical mistakes that will confound experts, but the 'offensive' stereotyping of certain Indian communities.
The book states, "Idli and dosa are famous in South India. Madrasi food is very famous."
It also says the majority of people in eastern India reside in houses made of wood and bamboo and .
In another reference, it clubs the Puri Rath Yatra with South Indian festivals, including Onam and Diwali in Kerala.