Sant Tukaram's wife called him mad, says another textbook, draws ire

A controversy has erupted regarding derogatory references to Sant Tukaram and his wife in another school textbook.

Opposition parties and social organisations have demanded the recall and scrutiny of all the books that were prescribed for schools under the state governmnet's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The latter book, Govind Talwalkar's Life of Saint, mentioned Tukaram's wife being a woman of a short temper who used foul and abusive language while speaking to people. The author added that she even called her husband, the saint, a mad person.

Responding to this, the Sambhaji Brigade, Opposition parties and other social organisations demanded Education Minister Vinod Tawde resign. "If the government doesn't withdraw this book immediately, we will start state-wide agitation against the state government. This is nothing but a systematic plan to indulge in character assassination of our icons by the government. We won't tolerate this any further. Our icons, saints and their family members are all deliberately portrayed in a negative light. It must be stopped immediately," said Ranjeet Shinde, social activist and leader of the Bahujan Ekta Manch.

Shinde said that all books prescribed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan need to be recalled and scrutinised. "We need to check the authenticity of all these books. We cannot teach our children an incorrect history," Shinde added.