Fact check: No, Andhra Pradesh government's third standard Telugu textbook has no lesson on Jesus.

Hyderabad: A picture of a Telugu textbook showing a lesson on Jesus is going viral on social media. Users claim that it is the first lesson in the Andhra Pradesh III standard textbook.

This image has been shared on Facebook and Twitter. Users are questioning the state government how it can include the lesson on Jesus and ignore Bhagavad Gita.

Few users shared the image with a message: "Dear AP CM, We know you have your preferences of religion and we respected that. Stop vandalizing #Hindu Temples and stop the imposition of religious beliefs on #Andhra Pradesh people right from 3rd standard. Telugu's first chapter about #Jesus. #andhrapradeshtemples #APC2020,"

Archive links of the claims can be found here, here and here.

Fact Check:

The claim is FALSE. There is no such lesson in the III standard Telugu textbook published by the Andhra Pradesh government.

When observed the image carefully, the publisher is NOT AP SCERT but Sri Shirdi Sai Group publication.

When searched for Andhra Pradesh third standard Telugu textbook, we found several links from where we could download the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) textbooks.

On the cover page of the third-class textbook downloaded, we can see the logo and also the text that says it Is the publication of the Andhra Pradesh government.

Here are the screenshots of the lessons 1,2,3 in the third class Telugu textbook, where we can see no such lesson as in the viral image.

Therefore, the claim that the first lesson of the third class Telugu textbook published by the Andhra Pradesh government is on Jesus is FALSE.