... Thousands of children in the country who are

acquiring a unique perspective of Indian history and culture, thanks to a 'special' series of textbooks.

(A) textbook published by Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan is part of the curriculum in the 6,000 (according to an unofficial estimate, 14,000) schools run by the organisation that is closely identified with the RSS. The organisation says that it is engaged in providing :.. education in religion, culture and nationalism.

The textbooks, "Sanskriti Jnan Pareekhsha" (Culture Knowledge Examination) and "Sanskrit-Jnan Pareekhsha Prashnottari" (Culture Knowledge Examination Question- Answers) are used in an all-India examination conducted by the organisation.

On Babari Masjid: For example, the students learn that ... Maharaj Kush, son of Lord Ram, who built the first temple to the Hindu God at Ayodhya ... Chandragupta Vikramaditya (AD 380-413) built the present Ram temple.

And which Mughal invader destroyed the Ram temple in 1528? Easy question, for who doesn't know that it was Babur? But why is the Babari Masjid not a mosque? Because Muslims "have never till today offered namaz there," says the textbook.

On Sri Lanka: ... "What is the name of the island in the south which touches the feet of Bharat Mata and which reminds us of Sri Ramchandra's victory over Ravana and which was a part of our country at one time?" The almost innocuous jab at the truth is typical of the deliberate untruths and distortions of historical facts that abound the textbooks.

Congress Member of the Rajya Sabha Eduardo Faleiro has accused the publishers of the textbooks of spreading religious bigotry and denigrating Christianity and Islam.

On Christianity: "It is because of the conspiratorial policies of the followers of (Christianity) that India was partitioned. Even today, Christian missionaries are engaged in fostering anti-national tendencies in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and other regions because of which there is a grave danger to the integrity of the present-day India."

Interestingly, the National Steering Committee for Text Book Evaluation, which evaluated these textbooks, "shares the concern expressed over the publication and use of blatantly communal writings in the series entitled 'Sanskriti Jnan' in the Vidya Bharati schools and agrees that the series is designed to promote bigotry and religious fanaticism in the name of inculcating knowledge of culture in the young generation." (Source: The Hindustan Times, 5 June, 2000)