Stating that moral values are eroding because people are imitating foreign culture, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday exhorted the gurukuls to come forward and impart modern education to the youth while preserving the moral values and the country’s cultural heritage. Emphasising that more gurukuls should be established, Singh said that a new India needed new 'gurukulams' which combined traditional education with emerging and cutting edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence while also preserving traditional education. “Gurukuls should act as guides for other educational institutions. In the times to come, they should once again represent the country and its culture and become the new identity of India,” he said. Singh inaugurated ‘Patanjali Gurukulam’ at Swami Darshnanand Gurukul College in Haridwar in the presence of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev. Singh also laid the foundation stone of 'Acharyakulam'. “Macaulay was sent to India to enslave Indians even mentally by colonising their minds,” Singh said, adding, “The education system introduced by Macaulay spawned generations of Indians who grew up with a sense of inferiority about their own culture and traditions." “About 1,500 years ago, there were many big universities in India, where the gurukul tradition was prevalent. After that, the country saw that the system was almost destroyed by foreign invaders. They developed a system that did not provide education to our youth in line with the cultural spirit of the country,” he said. Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Singh reiterated the central government's resolve to inculcate moral values in youth since their primary education. Underlining the importance of yoga, Singh explained how the entire world has followed the ancient Indian practice because of its benefits and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts behind the proclamation of June 21 by the UN as the International Yoga Day. Dhami said that Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Darshananand have made massive contributions towards reviving the ancient gurukul tradition. He said the country is getting rid of its slave mentality under the dynamic leadership of Modi. - With PTI inputs
