'Who faced the harshest British punishment?' Savarkar answer sparks Kerala school quiz row

A question meant to test young students on India's freedom struggle has instead triggered a political storm in Kerala, after a school quiz identified VD Savarkar as the freedom fighter who received the 'most severe punishment' from the British.

The controversy erupted over the Freedom Quiz conducted by the education department for lower primary students in the Kumbla and Manjeshwaram sub-districts of northern Kasaragod.

State General Education Minister N Samsudheen has now sought a report from the Director of General Education on the matter.

The disputed question read: 'Who is the freedom fighter who received the most severe punishment from the British?' The answer provided was VD Savarkar.

According to reports, the questionnaire was prepared by teachers associated with the Social Science Club Association.

The question has drawn sharp criticism from Left student organisations, which alleged that describing Savarkar as a freedom fighter amounted to presenting a Hindutva ideologue, and one of the accused in the conspiracy surrounding Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, in a favourable historical role.

The Students' Federation of India, the student wing of the opposition CPM, accused the Congress-led UDF government of aligning with what it described as the Sangh Parivar's agenda.

SFI state secretary PS Sanjeev alleged that the UDF government, with the Indian Union Muslim League handling the general education portfolio, was attempting to create a role for the Sangh Parivar in the country's freedom struggle.

'Under the UDF government in Kerala, with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) handling the general education portfolio, an attempt is being made to create a role for the Sangh Parivar, which betrayed the freedom struggle,' Sanjeev said in a Facebook post.

He further alleged that a quiz conducted for students in Kasaragod district had presented the 'main conspirator in Gandhi's assassination' as a freedom fighter.

Sanjeev also brought the IUML's position on the Sangh Parivar into question, referring to the earlier controversy surrounding the PM SHRI issue.

'The League's anti-Sangh Parivar stand was exposed as a fraud through the PM SHRI issue itself. The League is neither anti-Sangh nor does it have any stand. What they have is only business interests and hunger for power,' he alleged.

The controversy also drew criticism from Mattannoor MLA and Democratic Youth Federation of India state secretary K Sanoj.

'A school quiz has featured a question praising Savarkar. There is no question about it, just go ahead and justify it,' Sanoj said in a Facebook post.

In the same post, he criticised the government's reported direction that Vande Mataram should be sung in full during Independence Day celebrations.

The latest controversy has placed the education department under scrutiny, with the minister seeking an official report on how the disputed question and answer made it into a school-level quiz for lower primary students.