Is the education department imparting false information to the state’s students? According to Moolchand Rana, a former member of the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC), the answer to that question is yes. 

Rana has written to the authorities alleging that the Gujarati-medium sociology textbook for Class 12 contains misinformation on the Buddhist religion and its practitioners. In his letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Governor Acharya Devvrat, and the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Rana has demanded that the problematic section be removed. 

Countering this, Rana says: “Buddhism is beyond social enclosures. Buddhism embraces many people from all walks of life around the world. Only in the Tibetan area is the Buddhist leader known as the Guru Lama, and wish wheels, or prayer wheels as they are commonly known,, are a Tibetan tradition and have no scriptural connection to the wider Buddhist Dhamma. Buddhist places of worship are known as viharas, and karma/rebirth is a pure lie.”

The education department should vet such sensitive sections of these books before allowing them to be printed, he says.

Claiming that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi especially respects Buddhism and is disturbed by such controversial writings,” Rana also says responsible authors, officials should take serious note and necessary action should be taken to remove the controversial text from the book.

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