HYDERABAD: The Amedkar cartoon in the NCERT textbook set off a storm in Osmania University campus here on Saturday with around 100 students taking out a rally from the varsity arts college to the NCC gate. The students burnt HRD minister Kapil Sibal in effigy, saying Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, was shown in poor light in the cartoon used in the class XI political science textbook . The students had a clash with the police at the NCC gate, when the latter tried to take away the effigy and prevented them to continue the rally.The cartoon drawn by Keshav Shankar Pillai in 1948 features BR Ambedkar, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, sitting on a snail, with former Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru chasing him with a whip in his hand. The cartoon was added to the NCERT textbook in 2006.Student leaders from various organisations condemned the cartoon and said it has hurt the sentiments of people across the country. Osmania University Joint Action Committee (OUJAC) spokesperson M Krishank said a lot of political figures have been trying to defame Ambedkar as he stood up for the development of the backward classes. “Time and again, these kind of insults are being repeated. After the desecration of statues, this has added to the insults. No school student should see Ambedkar, father of Indian Constitution, in bad light.” he said.
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