A quiz book prepared by the BJP to be used as the basic text to judge the general awareness of nearly 15 lakh school children in Uttar Pradesh has expunged Mahatma Gandhi from the list of India's great personalities. A chapter titled India's First covers everything except the country's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The indoctrination exercise is part of a sweeping saffronisation project under the aegis of the Pandit Deendayal Birth Centenary Celebration Committee that is organising the mega general knowledge quiz on August 20 for school students from across the state, based on this book. The contest will see participation of 100 schools from each district of UP. Mail Today had reported on the party's plans on June 7.

The state has 75 districts while the BJP's internal geographical organisation of UP makes this tally 83. The book will be handed down along with the participation or registration form for the quiz.

The book also claims that Indian astronauts have gone and come back from the moon. Nehru finds practically no mention in the 70-page booklet that is primarily woven around the life of right-wing ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay and his ideology of Integral Humanism.

Gandhi finds passing reference three or four times and that too not in relation to his contribution to the Independence movement, though Sardar Patel's Bardoli Satyagraha has been mentioned, but in contravention to, in one instance, Babasaheb Ambedkar. While Gandhi and Nehru have been kept out, those included in the great personalities list are VD Savarkar, RSS founder KB Hedgewar as well as Jan Sangh leader and ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh.

APPROPRIATION

The list includes Sardar Patel from the Congress pantheon, and Ambedkar, two leaders the saffron outfit has been trying to appropriate since assuming power. It also includes tribal leader Birsa Munda, Sikh Guru Govind Singh and Madan Mohan Malviya from Varanasi, which is represented by PM Narendra Modi in Parliament. The life history of Ambedkar, incidentally, does not mention his role as Dalit redeemer or his conversion to Buddhism in his quest against Brahmanism.

Subhas Chandra Bose and Lal Bahadur Shastri too find passing mentions. The Congress reacted sharply on the issue. "It is unfortunate that a time has come when a mainstream party has tried to expunge the contribution of the Father of the Nation and trying to distort history in such blatant manner. Having said that, these personalities - Gandhi and Nehru - are not in need of some book to declare them heroes. Their contribution is well known," said Congress leader RPN Singh.

The book and the quiz, said member of the celebration committee and party spokesperson Chandra Mohan, would serve for a wide dissemination of the ideology of the BJP. "This book is intended to teach students about Indian nationalism and the glory of Indian culture. It is also intended to make the students of UP aware about the hitherto-neglected aspects and agencies of the national movement, and the Indian history at large," he said.

Moreover, no Muslim - from the modern or the medieval times - finds mention in the list. However, the book quotes poet Iqbal in reference to Indian nationalism, a person the right-wing has so far deprecated for having moved to Pakistan after Independence.

While the medieval part of Indian history too is conspicuous by its absence, the ancient period has been characterised as one in which "Varnashram Dharma, Purusharth and Sixteen Samsakaras were the ideal for all".

There are several references to foreign invaders who corrupted Indian culture and also fixes some of the blame on state broadcaster Doordarshan. "Afflictions of other cultures have crept into Indian culture owing to DD, cable TV, etc. Corruption and inequality in India are diseases that came with foreign invaders in the past few centuries, otherwise they were absent in the days of Ashoka and Vikramaditya."

Only such instances of Muslim history have been mentioned in which either a Hindu king vanquished a Muslim king or had been the victim of torture and excess of some Muslim king. For instance, a question in the book says, "Which Muslim invader was cut like carrot and radish by Maharaja Suheldev?"

The chapter on Indian economy starts only with 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre. Though it doesn't deal with much of Indian economy, it does point out that RSS wing Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is the biggest workers' union in India.

The chapter on current affairs is just a list of all the schemes and flagship programmes launched by PM Modi. Notable mentions are GST and demonetisation, as well as Digital India, Make in India, Stand-Up India.

The book asks several questions about who the founder of Jan Sangh was to who imprisoned Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in Jammu and Kashmir. "Who is credited with keeping Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India despite Article 370" and "Who was the first martyr for preserving the unity and integrity of the nation" is how Mookerjee is being taught.

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