While top leader were locked in a heated debate over
what was being termed as saffronisation of education by
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre,
the Kalyan Singh-led government in Uttar Pradesh has
already gone ahead with its agenda of adding several new
chapters to the educational curriculum for the 30
million students in 1,50,000 primary and pre-secondary
schools spread across the sprawling state.
And cleverly enough, the government has taken care to
not just add on a few chapters on BJP-RSS icons like
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya or Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but
also ensure the inclusion of several other 'forgotten'
eminent personalities like Ramakrishna Paramhans, Vinoba
Bhave, Jayaprakash Narayan, K M Munshi and, to top it
all, Mother Teresa.
"Now tell me, how do you brand our move as communal,"
asks UP's Minister of State for Basic Education Ravindra
Kumar Shukla, the main architect of the new curriculum
that also includes the singing of Saraswati Vandana
(invocation to the goddess of education) as well as the
patriotic Vande Mataram as a part of daily routine.
Shukla hits out at all those who were lashing out at the
BJP government for what they termed as 'Hinduisation' of
education. "If singing Vande Mataram was communal, then
even Ashfaq Ullah Khan, the well-known freedom fighter
and martyr, would be dubbed as one; after all he kissed
the gallows chanting Vande Mataram," he points out.
Significantly, the entire move has drawn very little
criticism form any quarter. Only in a belated reaction,
the state Minorities Welfare Minister Raja Ghazanfar Ali
Khan said vaguely at a function in Kanpur that he was
against the very idea of introducing Saraswati Vandana .
"This is communal," he remarked, while adding that he
would soon take up the issue with the chief minister.
However, Khan, who is the only Muslim in Kalyan's
council of ministers, has yet to be heard making any
noise over the issue and seems to be happily involved in
the routine affairs of the government.
Strong protest was witnessed only from one important
quarter -- the camp of renowned Shia cleric Maulana
Kalbe Sadiq, who is also vice president of All India
Muslim Personal Law Board. At a recent meet of Shias in
Lucknow, he made it loud and clear, "Well, we love our
country, but we cannot worship it, as our religion
prohibits worshipping anything other than the God
Almighty."
But Kalyan feels, "Some people are deliberately trying
to make a mountain out of a molehill simply because they
must politicise and give colour to anything and
everything that the BJP does. Perhaps they think they
can prove their self-proclaimed secular credentials only
by opposing and condemning the BJP."
He goes on to point out, " Saraswati Vandana has been a
part of university convocations for years; most schools
and colleges in the country have observed Saraswati
Vandana as a regular ritual to open their annual
functions and not a word was ever raised against the
practice, even by those who are now trying to fuel this
issue."
Shukla claims that the new education policy evolved by
him for the state's primary schools was something that
should have been done decades ago. "There is simply no
religion involved in what we seek to introduce in
schools today; the whole exercise is directed toward
improving the quality of education and building the
overall personality of a student," he points out while
adding, "Our arm is to provide a healthier teaching
environment in educational institutions where some kind
of accountability has also been fixed on teachers for
the first time."
Shukla further goes on clarity, "Now look at the new
daily routine drawn out by us -- this stresses the
involvement of students in cleaning classrooms, besides
building an ideal physical, psychological, educational
and spiritual environment." He has also included
periodical parent-teacher meetings, seminars as a matter
of routine, besides creating a family-like atmosphere in
schools. "After all, today's students are builders of
tomorrow's society," he quips.
Shukla admits that Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram
and even yoga sessions have been made part of the daily
morning curriculum. And the day would conclude with
showering of flowers over a picture of India, followed
by the national anthem and raising of the slogan 'Bharat
Mata Ki Jai'. As a matter of routine, students will also
take a vow at the end of the day to dedicate themselves
to the wellbeing of the nation and its people.
Asks the minister, "Now tell me, what's wrong in saying
India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and
sisters; I love my country and I am proud of its rich
ideals and traditions, that are its greatest treasure. I
will always strive to live up to them; I will respect my
father-mother, teachers and guides and will remain
courteous to all. I swear to remain true and sincere
towards my country and countrymen because there lies my
own happiness."