Bengal govt to review history textbook for linking Khudiram Bose with terrorism

The West Bengal government has decided to a review a Class VIII history textbook of the state secondary education board which described freedom fighters Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki as being part of "revolutionary terrorism".

Admitting that it was a "mistake", state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee promised in the Assembly that it would be corrected soon.

The state government has formed a panel headed by Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Mukhopadhyay - a retired college teacher - to modify the text after going through the textbook's content.

CPI-M lawmaker Pradip Saha earlier raised the matter in the House, prompting the government to form the committee which has been asked to submit its report within three months.

Saha claimed that the textbook had called Khudiram Bose a "terrorist".

The expression has been used in both the Bengali and English versions of the textbook that has a chapter on India's freedom movement.

The English textbook uses the words "revolutionary terrorism" on page 112 under the chapter titled 'Our Past, Our Heritage'. IANS