Jaipur, Sep 1 (IANS) 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 also said that in future no one would be allowed to praise the Mughal emperor as a ‘great personality’.
The minister said this during the 28th state-level “Bhamashah Samman Samaroh” at Vivekananda Auditorium of Sukhadia University, Udaipur.
The Education Minister lamented that Maharana Pratap, who sacrificed everything for the honour and prestige of Mewar, was never given the status of greatness.
He said that education is the highest responsibility and every single penny given by Bhama Shah for this purpose will be utilized properly.
In January this year, Madan Dilawar called Mughal emperor Akbar a “rapist” and called for removal of references to him as a “great man” from school textbooks.
His comments were made in response to discussions about significant revisions to school textbooks following the change in government.
He said in a press conference on January 30, “We do not need to make any changes in the syllabus, but whatever parts have unethical statements or insult great men will be removed. A lot of misleading information has been given 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 has been hailed as a great man, Shivaji has been called a ‘hill rat’, and the role of Maharana Pratap has been suppressed by that of Akbar. Such statements are not acceptable and will be reviewed.”
Meanwhile, the Education Minister on Sunday praised the Bhama Shah tradition of Rajasthan. He said that Rajasthan is a land of sacrifice, penance, valour and bravery.
He told that when Maharana Pratap had to live in the forests, Bhama Shah had donated all his property.
He concluded by describing Rajasthan as the land of great men and acts of valour, and emphasised the inspirational legacy of Maharana Pratap, Bhama Shah, and tribal leader Govind Guru.
–IANS
AS/
