Scholars, writers call for recall of faulty textbooks that feed radicalism

A group of 85 eminent scholars, writers and cultural workers have demanded that the 'error-riddled' textbooks be withdrawn and action taken against those guilty for the blunder.

Signed by cultural activist Kamal Lohani, the statement issued by the group on Tuesday alleged that materials insinuating fundamentalism and extremism have been intentionally inserted in the books.

They have alleged that the books could encourage fundamentalism and terrorism in Bangladesh.

The statement says, "We strongly demand the immediate withdrawal of the books. At the same time, we demand that the young minds be saved from being fed with ideas of extremism and negativism and help develop a healthy nation by forbidding education through these books."

They have found faults with the book on three counts: "One: Spelling and factual mistakes, Two: Problems in sentence formations and Three: injecting communally sensitive ideas."

They believe that the first two are the results of mismanagement while the third is a planned outcome.

In the statement, they have protested against the government's indulgence to communalism and terrorism which the "government claims to be against".

"On the one hand, the government is harvesting communalism in the textbook, and on the other, it is peddling poison of discrimination among the young minds," the statement observed.

Protesting against the omission of works by Rabindranath Tagore, Lalon Fakir, Satyen Sen and other writers, the group warned that the "base thinking that allowed deletion of these writers will wreak havoc in the future by inspiring fundamentalism, and extremism in Bangladesh."