Imphal, Dec. 6: An influential students? organisation of Manipur today threatened to ?ban? a Hindi textbook meant for students of Class VIII for ?twisting? the state?s history.

Published by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the book refers to freedom fighters Rani Gaidinliu and Jadonang as icons of Nagaland instead of Manipur.

P.C. Newton, the secretary-general of the Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur, pointed out that the duo hailed from Tamenglong district and were revered by the people of Manipur for standing up to the British after the erstwhile princely state was annexed in 1891.

?This (the reference to their antecedents) is misleading, completely false and tantamount to twisting the history of Manipur. Rani Gaidinliu and Jadonang fought against the British and worked tirelessly for the unification of the Zeliangrong community. But lesson seven in the Hindi textbook wrongly mentions their names as freedom fighters from Nagaland,? he said of the book.

Newton warned of a ban on the textbook, titled Apunrva Bhag Three and published this year, if the NCERT did not correct the offending portions of the book. He urged the state education department and the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, to take up the subject with the NCERT.

The students? organisation also criticised Hindi schoolteachers in Manipur for continuing to impart ?wrong lessons in history?.

?There seems to be a political motive behind the inclusion of misleading information in textbooks. Such lessons should be corrected or withdrawn immediately. We are ready to impose a ban if immediate corrective steps are not taken,? Newton said.

Jadonang was hanged at Imphal Central Jail in 1932, while Gaidinliu fled to the Naga hills. She was caught and jailed in Nagaland, and freed only after Independence. The freedom fighter died in Nagaland because she was not allowed to return to her native village in Manipur.

?During that period in time, there was no region called Nagaland. The present state of Nagaland came into being only in 1963,? the students? organisation said.

It also protested alleged attempts to ?project? Naga insurgent leader A.Z. Phizo as an ?enemy? of the Naga people.