Summary:
Amid a controversy over history text book in state-run schools describing a section of the freedom fighters as "extremists", the West Bengal government Tuesday announced formation of a committee to review the contents of such books. Headed by educationist Jiban Mukhopadhyay, the "textbook review committee" comprises headmasters and senior school teachers, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said in the Assembly. Immediately before the beginning of the Question Hour, CPI(M) MLA Pradip Kumar Saha said a chapter in the class 8 history text book described several freedom fighters such as Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki as belonging to an extremist ("santrashbadi") branch. The freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives for the country were labelled as “extremists” in the text book in state-run and aided schools, Saha told Speaker Biman Banerjee and produced a copy of it in the House. The education minister later announced in the House the formation of the "Textbook Review Committee"..