IGNOU withdraws History books

New Delhi, July 19 (UNI) IGNOU has withdrawn the Hindi course material which wrongly depicted a mythological event, hurting religious sentiments, saying it was an ''inadvertent omission'' in translation.

It has also appointed an expert committee to review the entire course content.

''We get most of the study material translated and the mistake was an inadvertent omission during that process. We regret the mistake and have withdrawn the books,'' IGNOU Vice-Chancellor S C Garg told UNI here.

''The error was not aimed to hurt religious sensitivities or degrade the deities,'' he added.

The Hindi M A second year books-- 'Religious Thoughts and Belief in India'-- translated from English, had an incorrect reference about Shivaism and incarnations of Lord Shiva.

He said fresh material will be provided to students in the second year and also to those who have graduated to third year.

''We need to correct the wrong perception of the students. The entire lot has been withdrawn with immediate effect and the fresh batch of books is being printed,'' he said.

The VC said the university will be careful that such incidents are not repeated in the future.

The issue had created a controversy with many organisations claiming that religious sentiments of people have been hurt.

UNI NR MIR DB1904