An information has the potential to become viral when it is presented with a touch of controversy. A picture of a text book with a image of Lord Rama has been doing round for couple of days, claiming it to be of class VI, History textbook Book in West Bengal, where Rama is defined as a ‘Nomad’
The post has become viral in no time, that it has been published by some publications including Swargjya Mag claiming that the text books are published by West Bengal Board of Secondary Education with an intention to malign and ridicule, ‘Hindu Deities’ and it was shared more than 8000 times so far.
We also received several enquires from our readers, to find out the authenticity of the claim, so we started our investigation. First of all we checked Class VI, History textbook published by West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, but didn’t found any chapter citing Lord Rama. Moreover, we didn’t found any book titled ‘Atit o Otitjhya’ written by renowned Historian Shirin Masood, used for School education.
So, we reached out to Mr. Aveek Majumdar, Chairman, Expert Committee of School Education, Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal. The Committee is responsible for the development of the curriculum, syllabus and text book for all the classes from I to XII, in the state.
Mr Aveek Majumdar, said, “I clearly want to say that there is no such book published by School Education department, Govt of West Bengal” He also added, “we don’t portray any religious figures in our school text book and the way, historian Shirin Massed names has been dragged is really humiliating. We clearly reject, the claim made by the viral post“.
Thus, going by all our investigation and official confirmation from the Chairman, Expert Committee of School Education, Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal, we can clearly say that the viral post is a fake one.
NB: Don’t share or forward any misleading information on your social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, by doing so you are also becoming someone, who is creating panic and confusion among the larger mass and this is a punishable offense.
