Textbook Wars

A Textbook trouble's been brewing in California's backyard. Source of the problem, is the potrayal of Hinduism in Californian School textbooks. Parents, Academicians, Scholars and Educationists are in the middle of a super debate to define what Hinduism is. The debate assumes even higher singnificance 'cause according to NPR, Schools across the United States adopt California's Textbooks!

Metro

One says that educational material may not contain "any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation." Hindu parents, religious groups and educators have capitalized on this sentence to argue that current textbooks are unlawfully offensive and degrading to Hinduism and Indian culture.

The other provision says that the same materials may not contain "any sectarian or denominational doctrine or propaganda contrary to law." Scholars, activists and human-rights groups are touting this line to combat what they call fundamentalist Hindu efforts to sanitize Indian history and glorify Hinduism to the detriment of minority groups.

Searching for middle ground has been a bumpy ride.

The funny part is, apart from the groups that are slugging it out against each other in Sacremento (add a few more Metro readers), not many people here are even aware of what's going on around them.

Siliconeer magazine presents an illustration of how Hindu groups from India are supposedly waging a proxy war on US soil.