Responding
to concerns expressed by members in Rajya Sabha, Sibal said the
Government will also examine whether any criminal offence was made out
against those who drew or included the cartoon of B R Ambedkar in the
textbook.
Admitting
that there were many other objectionable cartoons of political leaders
in NCERT textbooks, he said his Ministry has decided to constitute a
Committee of experts to look into cases of all such objectionable
cartoons and remove them.
"When
I got information in the beginning of April, I wrote a letter to NCERT
that such a cartoon should not be there as it is objectionable... On
April 26, 2012, I wrote to NCERT stating that it is considered advisable
to withdraw the cartoon. After this, they set up a Committee to examine
this," Sibal said.
"Then
I called all textbooks and found there are many other such cartoons
about other leaders which are objectionable. Then I decided to set up a
Committee to look into all textbooks. I told NCERT to stop distribution
of all books immediately," he said.
When
asked by BSP member Mayawati as to what action the Government was
taking against those responsible for inclusion of Ambedkar cartoon in
textbooks and by when would action be taken, Sibal said, "Nothing
objectionable about Babasaheb Ambedkar will be allowed and action will
be taken so that this is not repeated."
Clarifying
that the textbooks are made by an independent textbook authority -
Textbook Development Committee, which comprise academics and not
officials of NCERT.
He
said none of the existing members of the present Textbook Committee
which approved this book will be part of the new Committee set up to
examine objectionable cartoons.
Meanwhile,
amid uproar in Parliament over a cartoon of B R Ambedkar in NCERT
textbooks, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday apologised over the
objectionable content, saying he has directed removal of the material
and stoppage of distribution of books.
He
appealed to political parties not to make it an issue for vote bank
politics. "...I am willing to personally apologise for it though I was
not the minister at that time in 2006. I was involved in the publication
of the books," Sibal told reporters outside Parliament House.
He
said there was no question of anybody trying to malign Ambedkar or
anybody trying to make fun of him because that "I think will be against
the secular ethos of our country".
Sibal
said much before the issue came to Parliament, he had taken action on
it and set up a committee to look at the entire gamut of cartoons in
textbooks and their content to ensure material of this nature is taken
out of textbooks.
"This
issue came to my notice sometime towards April and we sought an
explanation from NCERT and after the explanation had come, we took the
decision on April 27 that this particular cartoon should be withdrawn
from NCERT textbooks on political science," he said.
Sibal said the government on Friday further decided that the textbooks which contain the cartoon shall not be distrubuted.
The wholesalers, he said, have also been asked to stop distribution of the textbooks.
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