Book Depicting Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh Not Published by Bengal Govt, Says Derek O'Brien

Kolkata: A day after actor Farhan Akhtar pointed out an error in a textbook depicting him as legendary athlete Milkha Singh, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien today said the book was neither a part of government school curriculum nor was it published by the state.

The senior TMC leader, however, assured Akhtar that efforts were being made to track the private publishing company that printed the school textbook.

"Thanks Farhan. Ref the wrong pic of Milkha Singh. Checked with education minister of state. He tells me it isn't a textbook for government schools. Nor is it published by government," he said tweeted last night.

"Trying to track the private publishing company. They ought to correct the mistake in future editions," he said.

The actor, too, thanked O'Brien for his response.

"Appreciate your response. Tagged you since you take education very seriously," he tweeted.

The error went viral on social media yesterday and Akhtar had urged the state government to rectify it.

Mikha Singh, known as 'The Flying Sikh' was the first Indian to win an individual athletics gold medal at Commonwealth Games in 1958.

The 44-year-old actor, who essayed the role of Singh in the 2013 biopic 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', took to Twitter to point out that a still from the film had been incorrectly used in the book instead of the athlete's photo.

"To the Minister of School Education, West Bengal. There is a glaring error with the image used in one of the school text books to depict Milkha Singh-ji.

"Could you please request the publisher to recall and replace this book? Sincerely," Akhtar wrote, while re-tweeting the image shared by another Twitter user.

The actor-director tagged West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and O'Brien in his tweet.

Chatterjee yesterday said the government will take necessary steps after finding out the details.

Akhtar received critical acclaim for his performance and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' bagged National Awards in two categories - Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Choreography.