New Delhi: A controversial Class 10 English exam question on “disobedience of wives”, flagged as deeply misogynist, will be dropped, the CBSE or Central Board of Secondary Education declared today amid searing outrage that reached parliament.
The passage is “not in accordance with the guidelines” and has been dropped; students will be given full marks for the question, declared the CBSE moments after Congress president Sonia Gandhi raised it in parliament.
The passage, which has gone viral on social media, had sentences like the “emancipation of the wife destroyed the parent’s authority over the children” and that “it was only by accepting her husband’s way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones”.
One of its most offensive portions read: “The mother did not exemplify the obedience upon which she still tried to insist…In bringing the man down from his pedestal the wife and the mother deprived herself, in fact of the means of discipline.”
Another part said that “women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems” and if ”wives stops obeying their husbands, that is the main reason children and servants are indisciplined”.
Various parties in parliament labelled the passenger as “blatantly misogynist” and “disgusting”.
Led by the Congress, members of the DMK, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the National Conference staged a walkout in Lok Sabha over the issue.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi raised the issue, condemning what she called the “blatantly misogynist” passage and demanding an apology from the Narendra Modi government.
She said the objectionable question must be withdrawn immediately and a review must be ordered into what led to the “gravest lapse”.
“I wish to draw the attention of Gov to the nationwide outrage regarding the shockingly regressive passage in grade X of CBSE exam…”
“I Quote: Wives stopped obeying their husbands & that is the main reason children & servants are indisciplined: Unquote”
Smt. Sonia Gandhi in LS pic.twitter.com/5D6Kx7J2x3
— INC TV (@INC_Television) December 13, 2021
Her son and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed the passage “downright disgusting” in a tweet and said such moves are “typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth”.
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
