Out of book, Patkar questions NBT credibility

“I did not know about this, read in the newspapers. It speaks a lot about the functioning of this government. If this is the kind of reaction that NBT and the HRD ministry have to a letter from a man who is a director in an Adani project, has lost a case in Supreme Court against Narmada Bachao Andolan and is defending himself in a case on the attack on Sabarmati Ashram in 2002, then it does not speak well of NBT’s credibility. He has a long history of opposition to NBA. It is just because I joined AAP. But by that yardstick, how can chapters on the PM be included in children’s textbooks? I don’t know if that proposal has been approved,” Patkar told The Indian Express. She also wondered whether the book’s author was taken into confidence before the move.

When contacted, Thangamani said she was “informed” by the NBT about the decision. “I don’t want to say anything else. It is entirely the publisher’s call,” she said.

NBT said the NGO had been demanding that the chapter be dropped since 2002, but it refused to do so earlier since they did not have a valid case.

The NBT said that the HRD Ministry did not direct it to take the decision, but had merely asked for its comments.