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Teachers appeal to bowl out Kapil from text book

Michael Gonsalves In Pune

Junior college English teachers from Pune, in Maharashtra, have vehemently demanded that a lesson on former India cricket captain Kapil Dev should be immediately deleted from the Std XII English text book.

"The decision to this effect was taken by the Pune District Junior College English Teachers' Association at its meeting in Pune on Monday," professor Bhajandas Deokar, PDJCETA president told rediff.com.

He said students had been urging teachers to scrap the lesson "as the legendary cricketer has lost his charisma to inspire the young minds of students who once hero-worshiped him."

A lesson titled `Another Feather for Kaps' on Kapil Dev, on page 21 of the text book, Yuvakbharati, is prescribed for Std XII. It was published by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in 1995.

"In a letter sent to the chairman of the HSC board, the teachers have pointed out that they find it morally uncomfortable to teach the Kapil Dev lesson against the background of the Income Tax raids on his residence and his alleged involvement in match-fixing," said professor Deokar.

The letter has been signed by professor Deokar from Mamasaheb Mohol College, PDJECTA vice-president professor Rajiv Kulkarni from Modern College and PDJECTA secretary professor Arjun Jadhav from Fergusson College.

Professor Deokar pointed out that it is embarrassing for teachers when students pose queries like, 'Should the icon of Indian cricket should be idolised or abhorred?'

"The law of the country should not spare those who have taken the country for a ride, so that future generations should imbibe a lesson from it and the glory of cricket is restored," professor Deokar said.

In the memorandum, the teachers have pointed out that a similar lesson on Kapil Dev has already been scrapped from school curriculum of the Gujarat government.

Professor Deokar said the matter would also be taken up with Maharashtra minister for higher education, Professor Ramkrishna More.