West Bengal Chief Minister has been made mandatory reading for students, as the Singur movement has now been added to the syllabus.
Mamata Banerjee is making sure no one forgets her, especially school students. In a revised edition of Class VIII history textbooks, the exploits of the West Bengal Chief Minister has been made mandatory reading for students, as the Singur movement has now been added to the syllabus.
Entitled Otit O Oitijhho (Past and Heritage), the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education added a chapter on popular people's movements and the Singur movement figures with the Telangana, the Narmada Bachao and Silent Valley movements.
While the Telangana movement is given just two pages and the Narmada Bachao and Silent Valley movements are wrapped up in five lines each, the Singur movement gets seven pages, filled with pictures of Mamata and other leaders during this time. That's not all. A large timeline at the end shows just how Mamata and other leaders initiated the movement in 2006 and emerged "victorious" in 2016 following a Supreme Court verdict.
While educationists argue that the prominence given to the ruling party is a worrying sign, the authorities are unrepentant. Avik Majumder, chairman of the expert committee, which decides the syllabus, admitted that the Singur movement was incorporated, following a proposal from the state government but argued that it deserved its pride of place in school textbooks.
"There had been a proposal from the state government but the movement itself merits a place in history because it is the biggest and most significant farmers' movement of the century. Its significance can be seen from the fact that it led the highest court in the land to order a change in the rule made during the British era," Majumder said.
As to why there had been such prominence given to the names of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, Majumder retorted: "If they (TMC) had led the movement, how can you discard them? Besides, no name of any political party has been mentioned."
The write-up contains vivid details about how Mamata led the movement and also names other TMC leaders like Dr Partha Chatterjee, Sovan Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Mukul Roy and over 20 intellectuals who had supported the movement. But there is no mention of TMC.
Sources said that the government had been intending to make a place for itself in history for quite some time. In September last year, after the SC verdict, education minister Dr Partha Chatterjee said that the government would send a proposal to the syllabus committee for the inclusion of the Singur movement.
Sources said that this proposal was acted upon by the education board, leading to the late supply of the books. In fact, some schools are yet to get the books and the English version of the book is yet to arrive from the press.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties have attacked the government over the move.
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