Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan today demanded that the BJP apologise to the country over a mention of Bal Gangadhar Tilak as "Father of Terrorism" in a Class 8 reference book in Rajasthan.

Printed by a Mathura-based publisher, the book is used by private English-medium schools affiliated to the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE). "Is the Rajasthan government in its senses?" Chavan said, evoking a famous quote attributed to Tilak who regularly lambasted the British government in his newspaper. "This is not just an insult of the country but also that of crores of freedom fighters....BJP should apologise to the country," Chavan said. Tilak lit the fire of Freedom Movement, and "it's condemnable that such a personality is called "Father of Terrorism" in a book for students," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

"This is a poor attempt to tarnish the image of leaders such as Tilak, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi," he alleged. Following the controversy, officials at the Student Advisor Publication Private Limited, which publishes the book, had said yesterday that the mistake was rectified in the revised edition. "The translators made the mistake. It had come to our notice and was corrected in the revised edition last month," Rajpal Singh, a production official at the publisher's office, told PTI.