New Delhi: A cartoon on Jawaharlal Nehru and B R Ambedkar, first published in 1949 and reproduced in a school textbook, set off a storm in Parliament on Friday, forcing HRD minister Kapil Sibal to apologize after parties alleged it insulted Ambedkar.
The cartoon showed Nehru “whipping” Ambedkar over the slow progress of the framing of the Constitution after Independence and this saw disruptions in the Lok Sabha soon after it met, with MPs demanding that the “offending” cartoon be withdrawn. Some called for Sibal’s resignation, others wanted an apology.
According to agency reports, following the uproar, Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, advisors at the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), resigned.
Sensing the political combustibility of the issue, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee sought to cool tempers by immediately decrying the reproduction as inappropriate and launching into a detailed account of how Ambedkar oversaw the writing of one of the world’s lengthiest constitutions. Mukherjee’s erudition stopped the protests for a while but the House had to be adjourned. It was disruption twice more before the chair decided to put an end to the day’s proceedings.
While Sibal scrambled to explain that a review of NCERT books had been ordered and distribution of texts stopped, academics and artists felt the protests were overblown. They pointed out that neither Nehru nor Ambedkar found the depiction objectionable and felt the NCERT book explained the context adequately.
There were other sections of opinion, however, who felt sensitivities of the socially disadvantaged ought to have been kept in mind by the NCERT in an age of political and social assertion.
Just as terms like shudras and Harijan fell into disuse and are considered improper with Dalits being acceptable, what might have been innocuous in 1949 may not be regarded in a similar light today. P 10
DRAWING IRE
The cartoon by Shankar shows Ambedkar, with whip and reins, riding a snail labelled “Constitution”, which is being whipped by Jawaharlal Nehru as well. The caption says the cartoon denotes the “snail’s pace” at which the Constitution was drawn up and asks students what they think were the reasons for the Consituent Assembly taking so long
MPs wave copies of the cartoon as HRD minister Kapil Sibal apologizes in the Lok Sabha
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