CHENNAI: MDMK chief Vaiko's missive to the Centre demanding the removal of a cartoon in an NCERT class XII textbook on the anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu may stir fresh trouble, especially among regional parties in Tamil Nadu. Some of them, including DMK, are likely to issue statements condemning the cartoon, cashing in on the emotive issue."The anti-Hindi agitation is a glorious chapter in Tamil Nadu's political history. But the cartoon in the textbook depicts students (of Tamil Nadu) as if they were ignorant and merely indulging in violence. This is a total distortion of history and hurts the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu, maligning the historic Dravidian movement," Vaiko said. MDMK Party MP A Ganesamoorthy handed over the letter to the NCERT director in New Delhi.
Last month, it was a dalit party, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi — a UPA ally — and the TN unit of the CPM that kicked up a furore over a 1949 cartoon published in an NCERT textbook showing Jawaharlal Nehru and Ambedkar in the context of the slow drafting of the Constitution. VCK cadres had led an agitation to a Kendriya Vidyalaya school at Kalpakkam near Chennai. The next day, the issue whipped up a storm in House with parties disrupting proceedings and demanding that the cartoon be removed from textbooks.
