Chapter on JP Narayan Removed From Bihar's JP University Syllabus, CM Unhappy

Lalu Prasad Yadav said, "RSS-backed Bihar government and RSS mindset has removed ideas of great socialist leaders."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

(File Photo: IANS)

Bihar's Jai Prakash University has removed chapters on social and political activists such as Ram Manohar Lohia and ironically, Jayaprakash Narayan (after whom the university is named) from its MA Political Science syllabus, triggering an outrage from the Bihar government.

The Governor of Bihar Phagu Chauhan, who is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, is the chancellor of the university.

Meanwhile, chapters on Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Subhas Chandra Bose and Jotirao Phule have been introduced.

What Other Chapters Were Removed?

Other eminent figures whose names were removed from the syllabus include Dayanand Saraswati, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Nitish Kumar called the changes “improper” and “uncalled for”, and asked for corrective steps to be taken through the Education Department, NDTV reported.

'Cannot Be Tolerated': Lalu Prasad Yadav

The issue of removing chapters on Narayan and Lohia has escalated into a full-blown controversy, with the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alleging a 'hidden agenda' by the RSS and the BJP-JDU government in power, NDTV reported.

Saying that in public interest no such steps would be allowed in the future, Nitish Kumar also warned other universities in the state to consult education officials before making changes in their syllabus.

The chief minister also said that the "tradition was not followed" and that his government could not accept a syllabus that is "against the public mood".

Lalu Prasad Yadav, who set up the university when he was the chief minister, said in a tweet in Hindi that a "RSS-backed Bihar government and RSS mindset (had) removed thoughts of great socialist leaders".

His tweet added, "I set up JPU 30 years ago in my karmbhoomi Chhapra. It was named after Jai Prakash ji. This cannot be tolerated. The government must take cognisance forthwith."

The vice chancellor and officials of the university were asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision, after they were summoned to Patna today.

Issue Raised by SFI

The issue came to light after the Students' Federation of India (SFI) unit raised objections.

Shailendra Yadav, an SFI leader, was quoted as saying, "How ironic that it is the JP University and a chapter on Jayaprakash Narayan and Lohia was dropped.”

Vice Chancellor Faruque Ali explained that the syllabus had been approved by the previous governor (Lalji Tandon, who served from August 2018 to July 2019). He added that the implementation of the syllabus however got delayed due to a delay in rolling out the CBCS (choice-based credit system).

(With inputs from NDTV and The Hindu.)