Sociology textbook ‘hailing’ dowry – Publisher yanks out all copies from market 

Mumbai, April 5 (IANS) In a major development, the publishers of a college sociology textbook – which dwelt on the “boons” of the dowry system – on Tuesday said they have decided to withdraw the book from the market with immediate effect.

“We would like to inform that we have taken immediate steps to withdraw the (text)book from the market. We take such matters with utmost seriousness and shall continue to strengthen internal processes to avoid such incidences in future,” Samina Khan, spokesperson for the New Delhi-based Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers Pvt. Ltd, told IANS in an email.

Jaypee Brothers are “a responsible publisher” and serving the medical community for more than five decades, she stressed. However, details of how many copies will be withdrawn and how they will be replaced are not provided.

The step comes as a huge climbdown as the publishers had told IANS, which highlighted the issue on Monday – that they would not revise the title, but delete the offensive sections in future editions of the textbook.

The “Textbook of Sociology for Nurses”, penned by senior author T. K. Indrani propounded the theory that the much-abhorred system of dowry was actually good for society and argued that it helps parents of “ugly looking girls” to get them married off.

The “gems of social wisdom” are visible in its Chapter 6, Pg. 122, justifying how the main cause of accepting dowry by the groom’s parents is that they have to, in turn, give dowry to their daughters and sisters (outgoing).

“Naturally, they look to the (incoming) dowry of their sons to meet their obligations in finding husbands for their daughters,” it claimed.

The content sparked off a furore in various quarters besides a storm in the social media demanding stringent action against the author and the publishers from hawking such stuff.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi shot off a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to “immediately stop the circulation” of the textbook, prescribed for second year B.Sc. students in Maharashtra and other states, and take it off the curriculum.

“It is appalling how such derogatory and problematic text remains in circulation and that a textbook elaborates the merits of dowry. It actually exists in our curriculum and is a shame for the nation and constitution,” an aghast Chaturvedi said.

She also appealed to the Union Minister to chuck out the textbook off the academic curriculum as well as circulation and review all existing textbooks by a panel of experts.

The Indian Nursing Council (INC) also slammed the textbook for the “substandard, derogatory content” which is also against the prevailing laws of the land.

It made it clear that it only prescribed the syllabus for nursing programmes but did not endorse any author or publication, nor has allowed anybody to use its name for their publications.

Agitated academics in Mumbai like retired Prof. Mangal Gogte and former lecturer R. N. Desai had strongly castigated the textbook for “its poisonous ideas” and sought content quality checks plus prompt withdrawal of all copies from the Indian market.

The textbook also refers to how young boys earning high salaries or promising professional careers become “scarce commodities” and hence, their parents demand huge amounts of money from the girl’s parents to accept her as their daughter-in-law.

The author lists several “merits and advantages” of the dowry system, that is not only frowned upon and banned under the Indian laws, including “ugly-looking girls can be married off with attractive dowry with well or ugly-looking boys”.

Dowry helps (the young couple) in establishing their new household as the custom of giving things like cots, mattresses, television, fan, refrigerator, utensils, clothes and even vehicles are given by the girl to her husband in many parts of India, it said.

In the form of dowry, the girl automatically gets her share in the parental property at the time of her marriage, is another contention.

The dowry system helps spread education among girls as due to the burden of dowry, many people have started educating their girls, it said.

“When the girls are educated or even employed, the demand of dowry will be less. Thus, it is an indirect advantage,” says the textbook.

Incidentally, around 6 years ago, similar claims on the alleged ‘goodness of dowry’, featuring in HSC textbooks of Maharashtra had triggered a huge row. – IANS

As world celebrates Int’l Women’s Day, female feticide remains a cause of concern in India

Mumbai: Despite stringent measures by the health authorities, over 6.30 crore (63 million) girls are "missing" from the Indian population since Census 2011 owing to female feticide and infanticides, sparking...

‘Late night meeting, then back to work early morning’: PM Modi’s schedule draws wide praise from netizens

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the tallest leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), commands immense mass appeal and public connect despite being in power for ten years. The reason...

This UP Constable has Rs 5 cr house with swimming pool, BMW and Audi

Kanpur (UP): He has a sprawling 12-room house built over two floors, with a swimming pool and a huge parking lot where he parks his BMW, Audi and a Toyota...

California Civil Rights Department accepts caste not essential part of Hinduism

New York: In a victory for Hindu Americans, the California Civil Rights Department has amended a 2020 complaint and stated that caste and caste-based discrimination are not an essential part...

255 test tube babies in Lucknow come together for a meet

Lucknow: It was a unique get together on Sunday at a local hospital here. The "guests" were all test tube babies, born through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique. The test...

No significant change in minimum temperature likely over north India till next week: IMD

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) Jet stream winds, of the order of 130-160 knots at 12.6 km above mean sea level, are still prevailing over the plains of North India,...

Sabarimala pilgrims find shelter in K’taka mosque, granted permission for Puja

Kodagu (Karnataka):A group of six Hindu pilgrims from north Karnataka who reached Sabarimala temple in Kerala during night, and faced the threat of wildlife attacks, were relieved after they were...

Heading to Himachal, get hotel booking in advance, or spend night in chilly cold!

Shimla/Manali: If you are heading to the hills of Himachal Pradesh this week to ring in New Year, get an advance booking of a hotel or a homestay unit before...

Hijab is our right, let’s live like brothers & sisters: K’taka student Muskan

Mandya (Karnataka): Reacting to the announcement of CM Siddaramaiah to lift ban on the hijab, Muskan, a student from Mandya district in Karnataka who had raised the slogan of "Allah...

Hindu groups demand ban on Muslim vendors from K’taka religious fair

Vijayapura: Members of Hindu groups and the Sri Ram Sena on Tuesday demanded a ban on Muslim vendors from conducting business at the famous historical Sri Siddeshwara Sankramana religious fair...

90 out of 230 newly-elected MLAs in MP have criminal cases: ADR report

Bhopal: As many as 90 out of the 230 newly-elected MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have criminal cases against them, according to a report released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)....

Ex-PM Deve Gowda’s daughter-in-law’s outburst at biker: Rs 1.5 cr car worth more than your life

Mysuru/Belagavi: The video of Bhavani Revanna, the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, berating a bike rider for colliding with her luxury car went viral on social media on...

Read Previous

SC agrees to examine plea against electoral bond scheme soon

Read Next

Musk joins Twitter’s board of directors, promises significant improvements

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com