Friday, June 3 2005 18:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Kicking up a new row, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) today (Jun 3, 2005) charged the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government with hurting the sensitivities of Hindus and "reintroducing" prejudices about various communities through the new history and social science textbooks of the NCERT scripted by "leftist" historians.

"It is shameful and hurtful. What is being attempted in the NCERT textbooks is a national crime. The cleansing of the textbooks of the insulting accounts given by the leftist historians by the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government has been undone in the new textbooks," Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan told reporters in New Delhi. Vardhan claimed that the history textbook for class VI by Romila Thapar made the "most offensive remarks" about Hindus that beef was served to special guests in ancient India.

"What is the basis for such a hurtful comment? The Rig Veda prohibited even hurting the cow, leave alone killing one," he said.

He alleged that the new class XI history textbook made "disrespectful comments" about Lord Mahavira and put a question mark on the existence of the 'Tirthankaras'.

Vardhan also charged the new textbooks with presenting the Sikh gurus in poor light and diluting the contribution made by the Sikhs in the freedom struggle.

The Jats, he said, have been described as plunderers by Bipan Chandra in the Class XII book 'Modern India'.

"We removed these anomalies, and our efforts were dubbed by the Congress and others as saffronisation. Now, the HRD Minister Arjun Singh, under pressure from the Government's Left allies, is bringing back the leftist bias in the books," he said.