Bengaluru: A Class 8 textbook raised many brows in Karnataka as it describes Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar flying out of jail cell on bulbuls.
A controversy has stirred up after the managing director of Karnataka Text Book Society (KTBS) termed Savarkar's flight a "poetic imagination" of the text's author.
M P Madegowda said the passage in the chapter titled Kalavannu Geddavaru, authored by KT Gatti, is the author's account of travel diaries of different personalities including Sarvarkar.
He added that the author could have used the flight part as a metaphor to interpret Savarkar's devotion to his motherland.
The passage said: "In the room where Savarkar was jailed, there was not even a small keyhole. However, bulbul birds would fly into the room from somewhere, on whose wings Savarkar would sit and fly out to visit the motherland every day," as reported by The Indian Express.
Congress leader Priyank Kharge tweeted that it does not sound like a metaphor.
Many on social media expressed dismay at the absurdity of the claim of Savarkar flying on bulbul.
Vikram Sampath, who authored Savarkar's biography, said he was shocked at reading the part about the Savakar's flight.
Sampat added the author's poetic sanctity does not convey what it is actually meant to be.
It does more harm to the man and his legacy than anything else, Sampath said, adding that the government will scrutinize the text more closely.