http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Casteist_slur_against_Dalits_in_govt_book/rssarticleshow/2924238.cms
Casteist slur against Dalits in govt book 4 Apr 2008, 0043 hrs IST,Bharat Yagnik,TNN AHMEDABAD: Calling a Dalit a dhed* in Gujarat is the worst form of casteist abuse, also punishable under the Atrocities Act. You can be sentenced to six months of imprisonment if found guilty of using the term. Shockingly, the term is repeated eight times in a compilation of short stories published by the education department and distributed to primary schools for reading out to students after the morning prayers. Even more glaringly, the book has been edited by GN Chaudhari, former principal of the district institute of education and training (DIET-Patan), during whose tenure girls from weaker sections, especially Dalits, were sexually harassed and even gangraped in the institute. Chaudhari has edited this 331-page compilation of short stories called 'Akshay Patra' brought out by DIET-Mehsana, where he is the principal now. The book, published in January 2008, carries 206 short stories from among 1,500 entries which came from teachers working in Mehsana district. All 970 schools of Mehsana were provided copies of this book to be selectively read out in the morning assembly at school. On page 289, the short story 'Vidya Vinaythi Shobhe' has used the derogatory term eight times on a single page. Chaudhari realised this mistake rather late and directed all the schools through a letter dated March 29 to send the books back. When the schools got back the book this week, they have found page No. 289 torn out. The co-editor of the book, Govind Rawat, told TOI that the error now stands corrected."We were supposed to use the term 'shudra' but it slipped out during editing," he said. However, Dalit rights activist and former minister Ishwar Makwana has demanded that cases under Atrocities Act be registered against the printer, publisher and editors of the book. * We have used this word only to put things in perspective.
