June 2, 2014
To,
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development ,
Government of India
Dear Madam,
Subject: Reviving Hindu Academic Texts.
We write on behalf of a Delhi-based ‘Think Tank’, namely, the Patriots’ Forum, pledged towards protecting and preserving our age-old Indic civilization.
Madam, we feel very happy to see a press report on the front page of a national daily, namely, The Asian Age of May 30, 2014 (copy attached) that your ministry has plans for wide consultation for restoring Hindu texts and those to be made part of regular academic curricula. We are also extremely happy to learn from May 31, report in The Asian Agethat you are also considering a National Education Policy. These are indeed a much-needed and much-awaited move, especially in the context of the fact that scholars with leftist leaning’s had over the years come to dominate all major educational institutions, a fact not unknown to your ministry. Madam, if we may dare suggest, your ministry will have to first take up the task of ‘cleansening’ up these institutions. Your ministry will do well to draw your attention to an excellent write-up on the urgent need for total overhauling of the famed Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU), which “over the years has become the den of secessionism, Maoism & terrorism”. It openly dishonors the national flag and champions the separatists in Kashmir, including the hanging of notorious terrorists like Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. We are sure you will then consult veteran scholars of repute and well-versed in Hindu Shastras, and get our old-educational system reviewed and revived as well for proper utilization of ‘stored’ knowledge in them.
A distinctive unhappy note has, however, come to notice in a write-up in another English daily of May 30, namely, “The Statesman” with the significant heading, “Vernacular Party“, whose thrust was on-“Notwithstanding the BJP’s dependence on Macaulay’s children to carry its word to the unconverted, the distaste for English among senior leaders was evident from party president Rajnath Singh’s observation that the English language has inflicted “maximum damage” because it made Indians forget their “religion and culture”—AMULYA GANGULI. Perhaps, the Union Home Minister’s emphasis was more on the damage caused so-called intellectuals produced by English Medium schools, etc.
We would in this connection humbly submit that this statement of the honorable Union Home Minister will not, rather, does not live up to historical scrutiny. We here draw attention to what happened to West Bengal, when the leftists in their zeal to promote primary education through the mother tongue, removed English at the primary stage, leading the State, once called the cultural capital of the country, to a devastating stage of producing illiterate bunches of students, not being able to come up to compete with their counterparts from the other States.
So, Madam, although we are all for our own Hindi language, we also urge you not to lead the entire country to the path of producing half-educated Bharatvashis, unable to find their place in this highly as well as brutally competitive world. After all, whether we like it or not, English is now an international language. Indians, score over people of many other countries by their sheer proficiency in that language. This is hard truth any tampering with the teaching of English will push back the country by several years, if not decades, as the Mandal Commission set up by V.P. Singh had done for the country.
In the circumstances, we do hope you and your Ministry, which also, we hear, was once under the grip of the leftists, will not let the country down.
We remain at your service, whenever, and, if at all, required.
Vandemataram,
With best regards,
D.C. Nath
(President, Patriots’ Forum)
(Former Spl. Director, IB)
Ancient Hindu texts to be made part of curriculum?
May 30, 2014 – Nitin Mahajan | New Delhi
Human Resources Development(HRD) plans wide consultations before move
The new BJP government has taken initial steps towards introducing the Hindu right perspective in the education system. It is learnt human resources development minister Smriti Irani has asked HRD officials to evolve and develop educational material that encapsulates the contribution of ancient Indians in different fields like science, mathematics, social sciences, philosophy, grammar and language.
It is learnt that once evolved, this material could be introduced as chapters in the school curriculum. The ministry is planning to set up a committee to study the ancient Hindu texts, vedas, upanishads and other epics to select relevant material for teaching. To deflect criticism, the Modi government is likely to hold wide consultations with academics and others before going ahead with the move.
The minister brought this up during detailed interactions with senior HRD bureaucrats in the past two days. She also articulated her desire to preserve the ancient culture and heritage of the country, sources said.
This is being viewed as an attempt by the government to push through the RSS’ educational revamp agenda.
The rightist outfits consider current textbooks as Left-leaning and thus flawed.
Source: PATRIOT FORUM VIA. publisher@worldhindunews.com.
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