Gujarat Textbooks Have Wrong Date Of Birth Of Legendary Poet: Congress

The Congress on Saturday said the Gujarat government was celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of renowned poet Jhaverchand Meghani but had done nothing over school text books in the state getting his date of birth wrong.

The Congress also claimed it was "criminal negligence" on the part of the BJP government to not have Jhaverchand Meghani's photos on the cover of the invitation card and the main banner of the state-level function organised in Gandhinagar and attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

This amounts to disrespect of the celebrated Gujarati poet who is known for his active participation in the country's freedom struggle and for letters written to Mahatma Gandhi, said Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.

"The Class 9 Gujarati textbook of the state education board gets the date of birth of "Rashtriya Shayar" Meghani wrong. According to the textbook, Meghani was born on August 17 instead of August 28, which his actual date of birth. His photos were also missing from the invitation card and banner of the main event," Mr Doshi said.

Instead of garnering publicity and holding photo-ops in the name of the great poet, the Rupani government should correct the mistake in its textbooks, and take action against the (Gujarat State) Board (of School Textbooks) and the Education Department, he added.

Responding to the Congress' allegations, Chief Minister Mr Rupani said, "This controversy is wrong. Those who want to think negatively will continue to do so. We are keeping Jhaverchand Meghani at the centre of the programme that is organised for the celebration of his words, songs, books and photos."

During the day, the Chief Minister announced the construction of "Meghani Smarak Museum" in his home town Chotila, and laid the foundation stone virtually of Meghani Bhavan of the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi.