Amid allegations from some sections that a chapter on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was deleted, the Karnataka Textbook Society, on Tuesday, May 17, clarified that the chapter has not been removed and the Kannada textbook of Class X is currently in the printing stage, according to a PTI report.

Organisations, including the All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and the All-India Save Education Committee (AISEC) had claimed that a speech by RSS founder KB Hedgewar was included in the textbook, while doing away with a lesson on Bhagat Singh.

"Currently, there are reports in the media that a lesson on Hedgewar has been included in Class X first language Kannada textbook by omitting a chapter on Bhagat Singh. The reality is that the chapter on Bhagat Singh has not been omitted from textbooks," the society said, in a statement to PTI. It is hereby clarified that the revised first language Kannada textbook of Class X is currently under printing, it went to say.

Noting that the committee, headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha, was constituted to examine Social Science and language textbooks and revise them, the clarification note further added that the Committee has revised Social Science textbooks from Class VI to X and Kannada language textbooks from Class I to X.

The organisations have also alleged that works by renaissance literary figures like AN Murthi Rao's Vyaghrageethe, P Lankesh's Mruga Mattu Sundari and Sara Aboobacker's Yuddha were omitted from the textbook.

Commenting on the issue, Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar, said, "Today, they are removing Bhagat Singh, tomorrow they will remove Mahatma Gandhi. Let us never forget the sacrifices of those who freed us from colonialism."