BJP MP Sushil Modi falsely claims first five Indian education ministers were Muslims

On March 3, BJP MP and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi posted several tweets targeting Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. One of these addressed Gandhi himself. Modi questioned the Congress leader why the first five education ministers of India were all chosen from a single community. “Will Congress ever apologise for teaching a distorted history of India and negating the existence of Lord Ram,” he further asked. (Archive link)

राहुल गांधी बतायें कि देश के पहले पांच शिक्षा मंत्री केवल एक ही समुदाय से क्यों बनाये गए?
भारत का विकृत इतिहास पढाये जाने और भगवान राम का अस्तित्व नकारने के लिए क्या कांग्रेस माफी मांगेगी?

— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) March 3, 2021

India’s first five education ministers did not hail from the same community

Even a basic Google search reveals that Modi’s claim is false. The names of India’s first five education ministers are as follows.

1. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

2. Kalu Lal Shrimali

3. Humayun Kabir

4. Mohammad Karim Changla

5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Dr Kalu Lal Shrimali held the post of education minister twice – in 1958 and 1962. Following him, Humayun Kabir served as the education minister for only three months and the fifth education minister was Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. He held office for four months.

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, in an attempt to target the Congress, alluded that the first five education ministers of India hailed from the Muslim community. In reality, the second education minister Dr Kalu Lal Shrimali who filled the position twice was a Hindu. Furthermore, the claim that members of the Muslim community are tampering with Indian history frequently circulates. A photo of students from the religious studies branch in a Hyderabad college was viral with the false claim that they were distorting the Vedas.