An education rights group in Karnataka has accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) of trying to glorify the curriculum through its newly launched Kannada Class 6 textbook ‘Krishna’.The group, People’s Alliance for Fundamental Rights in Education (PAFRE), has demanded that the book be withdrawn from the syllabus for this academic year, claiming that it promotes religious themes while ignoring Karnataka’s cultural identity and diverse food habits.PAFRE chief convener Niranjanaradhya VP said in a statement that the textbook reflects the broader trend of introducing mythological and religious themes into school education under the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. “This is nothing more than a project to beautify the curriculum,” he claimed.The organization also questioned NCERT’s decision to name the textbook Krishna. According to PAFRE, Karnataka’s cultural identity is closely associated with literary and social reform figures such as Adikavi Pampa, Kuvempu, Kota Shivaram Karanth and Basavanna.“Karnataka’s identity is rooted in the ideas and contributions of great poets and reformers like Adikavi Pampa, Kuvempu, Kota Shivaram Karanth and Basavanna. But NCERT has chosen the name ‘Krishna’ instead,” the organization said.PAFRE further criticized the curriculum on nutrition, claiming it promoted a vegetarian view of a balanced diet but ignored foods commonly consumed across the state.“The plates shown in the course contained only ragi puree, roti, rice, vegetables, milk and fruits and completely devoid of fish, eggs and meat,” it claimed.The group said this reflected only a limited picture of Karnataka’s food culture and questioned whether communities consuming pork curry, fish curry and keema ball were being ignored.Textbooks allegedly describe vegetarianism as the only sign of a balanced diet. “By portraying vegetarianism as balanced, politics are being brought to children’s dinner tables. This is not education; this is cultural terrorism,” the group claims.PAFRE further claimed that the textbook did not adequately represent the folklore, literature and lifestyle of different regions of Karnataka, including coastal Karnataka, North Karnataka, Malnad and Old Mysore districts.The organization has asked CBSE to withdraw the textbook from Class 6 classes this academic year and urged NCERT to explain in writing why the book is named Krishna.It also sought to include references to eggs, fish and meat in the chapter on balanced diet, questioned the exclusion of the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) from the textbook development process and called for the book to be renamed to better reflect Karnataka’s identity.