MP assembly: Opposition furious over mention of ‘beef-eating Gonds’ in textbook

  • | Wednesday | 22nd March, 2017

He said the government was ready to take action and discuss the matter in the House but all attempts to run the proceedings have failed. "This is highly objectionable and a sensitive matter and is derogatory for the Gonds. He said Congress has no other issue to discuss in the House. Speaker Sharma adjourned the house proceedings a second time for 10 minutes. BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh assembly was adjourned sine die on Wednesday after it witnessed unruly scenes in the House for the alleged mention of members of the Gond tribe as " beef eating people " in a text book of MA (geography).

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh assembly was adjourned sine die on Wednesday after it witnessed unruly scenes in the House for the alleged mention of members of the Gond tribe as " beef eating people " in a text book of MA (geography). The state government has ordered an inquiry into the matter.The matter came up during zero hour when leader of opposition (LoP) Ajay Singh informed the House about the book being taught in a college in Umaria district and took serious objections to the details mentioned in the text. He said the book "Bharat Ka Bhugol" written by Harish Kumar Khatri and published by Kailash Pustak Sadan, Bhopal, is being used as a textbook for MA geography students.The book mentions that the Gond tribe live in the south-eastern region of the state and the meaning of Gond in Gondi dialect is "beef eating people" or "those who kill cows", he said, adding that it is an insult to the people of the entire Gondwana region."This is highly objectionable and a sensitive matter and is derogatory for the Gonds. The BJP government has come to power with the help of tribal votes", he said amid pandemonium in the house by the Congress legislators.When finance minister Jayant Malaiyya, panchayat minister Gopal Bhargava and MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya asked the opposition benches to follow the process of raising question in the house, the Congress MLAs intensified their protest and raised slogans against the government. They also stormed into the well of the house. Following the ruckus, Speaker Sitasharan Sharma adjourned the house for 10 minutes.Clarifying the stand, higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya said that the book in question was neither published by the government nor included in the course by the higher education authorities."We have ordered an inquiry and issued a show cause notice to the publisher. We are also initiating a process to blacklist the book, the publisher and the writer after detailed probe", said Pavaiyya.When the House reassembled after adjournment, school education minister Vijay Shah tried to pacify the opposition members saying the government has ordered and inquiry and he being a Gond himself was hurt with the details published in the book.Congress members Omkar Singh Markam, Bala Bachchan, Mukesh Nayak, Ramniwas Rawat demanded that government should apologise for such a publication. Speaker Sharma adjourned the house proceedings a second time for 10 minutes. He also called LoP Ajay Singh and other senior Congressmen to discuss the issue with the state legislative affairs minister Narottam Mishra, but to no avail.When the house reassembled for the second time, Congress MLAs stormed the well again, raising slogans and demanding a statement and unconditional apology from the chief minister, who was not present in the House.Speaker Sharma told the members to continue the proceedings with the call attention motion and tabling of petitions by the members. The finance minister also tabled appropriation bill in the house for discussion and heads were asked to move cut motions of 13 departments amid clamour.As the Opposition members did not relent and continued creating disturbance, Sharma adjourned the session for the day following noisy scenes and sloganeering.Reacting to the issue, LoP Ajay Singh told reporters in the assembly that the government has insulted the Gonds and was not ready to apologise. He said that the opposition will continue its protest till the matter is resolved.Clarifying government stand, state legislative minister Narottam Mishra said that Congress was trying to avenge the humiliating defeat in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand by creating disturbance. He said Congress has no other issue to discuss in the House. He said the government was ready to take action and discuss the matter in the House but all attempts to run the proceedings have failed.

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