Savarkar was leaving the jail sitting on a bird

Bengaluru: Controversy has arisen as the BJP-led government is trying to rewrite history. The Karnataka Textbook Revision Committee has included a chapter on Vinayaka Damodar Savarkar in a history book meant for class 8 students. While serving his life in the Andaman Jail, Sabakar used to travel regularly to his native land on the wings of a bird, it says.

There was not even a small hole in the jail cell where Savarkar was staying. But the bulbul bird regularly used to go to the said room and carried Savarkar on its back, the new textbook mentions. Such a controversial issue has been criticized by various quarters. Notably, Savarkar’s role in the Indian freedom struggle has been a major ideological flashpoint between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the pioneer of the Bajpa ideology, and its rival, the Congress.