VHP Leader Slams Political Bias in Classrooms, Backs Savarkar’s Legacy in Kerala Quiz Controversy

In a fiery defense of historical accuracy over ideological indoctrination, senior Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vinod Bansal on Tuesday urged educators to introduce students to “unvarnished truth” rather than politically motivated narratives. His remarks come amid a raging storm in Kerala over a school-level quiz question featuring Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, which has ignited a fresh political battle in the state.

Bansal, known for his strident positions, did not mince words while addressing the controversy. He asserted that shielding children from certain historical figures—or distorting their contributions—amounts to a grave disservice to the nation’s youth. “We must acquaint children with facts and reality, not with the colored glasses of partisan prejudice,” Bansal said, adding that selective amnesia in textbooks and quizzes only fuels intellectual dishonesty.

The dispute erupted after a district-level quiz in Kerala reportedly asked students about Savarkar, a freedom fighter and social reformer whose legacy remains deeply divisive. Left-leaning academic circles and political outfits in the state immediately protested, branding the question an attempt to “saffronise” education. They argue that Savarkar’s association with the British colonial administration in his early years makes him an unsuitable figure for school curricula.

Countering this, Bansal pointed to Savarkar’s relentless fight against caste discrimination, his advocacy for women’s rights, and his seminal work on the 1857 rebellion, “The Indian War of Independence.” The VHP leader insisted that reducing a towering personality to a single chapter of his life betrays a malicious agenda. He accused the detractors of practicing “selective outrage,” noting that comparable controversies rarely arise over figures with similarly complex legacies.

As the war of words intensifies, the Kerala education department has remained non-committal, stating that a review of the quiz’s content is underway. Meanwhile, Bansal’s remarks have galvanized right-wing supporters, who see this as a necessary corrective to a “skewed” historical lens. For now, the classroom has become the latest battleground, where the fight over India’s past is shaping the politics of its future.