Srinagar, Dec 13: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has come under fire over a comprehension passage in the class 10 English paper held on Saturday promoting “misogyny” and “gender stereotyping”.
In the class 10 exam, the question paper, as per wire agency PTI carried a comprehension passage with sentences like “emancipation of women destroyed the parent’s authority over the children” and “it was only by accepting her husband’s way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones”, among others.
Various excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media with users calling out the board for supporting “misogynistic” and “regressive opinions” and hashtag “CBSE insults women” trending on the microblogging site Twitter.
The comprehension passage in the CBSE class 10 English question paper has sparked a controversy for allegedly promoting “gender stereotyping” and supporting “regressive notions” prompting the board to refer the matter to subject expert.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the CBSE over the passage terming it as “disgusting” and a “ploy” of the RSS-BJP to crush the morale and future of the youth.
In a tweet, Gandhi said, “Most CBSE papers so far were too difficult and the comprehension passage in the English paper was downright disgusting. Typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth”.
“Kids, do your best. Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn’t,” Gandhi said.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.
Sonia on Monday condemned the inclusion of the “blatantly misogynist” passage and demanded an apology from the Modi government.
Most #CBSE papers so far were too difficult and the comprehension passage in the English paper was downright disgusting.
Typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth.
Kids, do your best.
Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn’t.— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 13, 2021
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi demanded immediate withdrawal of the objectionable question and a review into the “gravest lapse”.
Seeking clarification on the issue raised by Gandhi, members of the Congress, DMK, IUML, NCP and National Conference walked out of the House.
“Unbelievable! Are we really teaching children this drivel?
Clearly the BJP Government endorses these retrograde views on women, why else would they feature in the CBSE curriculum?, ” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted while also uploading the controversial paper.
(With inputs from PTI)
Unbelievable! Are we really teaching children this drivel?
Clearly the BJP Government endorses these retrograde views on women, why else would they feature in the CBSE curriculum? @cbseindia29 @narendramodi?? pic.twitter.com/5NZyPUzWxz
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) December 13, 2021