Tags:
Journalism of Courage
8220;We want to evolve an education system which can restore falling human and moral values. We want to develop a new generation which is brimming with nationalism, character, culture and values 8212; a generation fully developed not only physically but mentally, intellectually and spiritually8230;A generation which can face challenges of modern life and struggle against exploitation and injustices. A generation committed to make the nation rich and cultured.8221;
As the above ambitious aims make clear, the controversial Kalpa Yojna which led to the sacking of Uttar Pradesh Education Minister Ravindra Shukla on December 5 was not about just Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram. As envisaged by the Uttar Pradesh Government, it meant major changes in syllabus and daily routine of schools.
Under the scheme, all state government schools would in effect become 8220;Saraswati Shishu Mandirs8221;, which are run throughout the country by Vidya Bharati, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS outfit. Among other things, the singing of Saraswati Vandana during the morning assembly and Vande Mataram at the end of the day would become compulsory. Shukla now says he meant any prayer and not particularly Saraswati Vandana.
The schools would also have a Bal Bharati, consisting of a president, vice-president, secretary, deputy secretary, senapati commander and up-senapati deputy commander.
The Yojna also envisaged naming ofclassrooms in schools after great leaders their names figured in a list attached as an annexure to the Kalpa Yojna draft. These classrooms were supposed to display a portrait of the leader after whom they were named as well as anecdotes from his life.
It does not require much effort to guess who figured in the list of great personalities, circulated by the State Council of Education, Research and Training SCERT, along with the Yojna draft. It included: RSS founder Dr Hegdewar, Vir Savarkar, Subhash Chandra Bose, Shyama Prasad Mookerji founder of Jan Sangh, the precursor to the BJP, and Din Dayal Upadhyay 8211;among the great leaders; Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Ramtirtha, Swami Ram Krishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekanand, Madan Mohan Malviya, Maharshi Arvind, Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar and Ram Mohan Rai 8212; among the social reformers; and Namdev, Tukaram, Sant Gyaneshwar, Shankaracharya, Ballabhacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sant Hari Das 8212; among the poets.
Though a number of freedom fighters, someformer prime ministers and presidents and personalities like Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi also found a mention, the list had a predominant saffron tinge.
The list of quotations supplied with the Kalpa Yojna cited stray sentences from the Bible and occasional quotes of Hazrat Ali or Mahatma Gandhi, but a long list of Sanskrit shlokas from the Vedas and Upanishads. One of the clauses even made it mandatory for students to chant 8220;Bhojan Mantra8221; during recess.
The other instructions were: 8220;Portraits of Ma Saraswati and Bharat Mata be kept in a respectful manner during morning prayers and during dispersal of the school8230;The portraits should be properly decorated.8221; The clause detailing the procedure for morning prayers, interval and dispersal was titled 8220;Vandana, Madhyavkash and Visarjan8221;.
Even the architects of the scheme 8212; the 8220;experts8221; 8212; were no surprise, most of them proponents of the RSS ideology. The team was led by Shukla himself, who is an RSS pracharak. The sackedminister proudly recalls how he had once rebelled against his father, a Congressman, for restraining him from attending RSS shakhas. Shukla had been a teacher at the RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Hamirpur before jumping onto the political bandwagon. Another 8220;expert8221; on the Yojna committee was also an RSS full-timer, Radhey Shyam Pandey.
In the preamble of the Yojna draft, Shukla wrote: 8220;The Yojna envisages school as a family. The school family will be expected to prepare a draft scheme to achieve physical and educational aims, the progress of which will be monitored by officials of the Education Department. The SCERT will draft a detailed outline of curriculum and extra-curricular activities to be performed every month. The draft will be made available to every school by the third week of every month through a magazine. Principals8230;will be responsible for procuring details of the scheme and getting it implemented every month.8221;
However, with the scheme backfiring, almost everyone isdenying responsibility for the controversy now. Ali Mian dealt the first blow when he asked Muslims to withdraw children from Uttar Pradesh government schools, declaring: 8220;Idol worship is taboo in Islam. Our wards can8217;t sing Saraswati Vandana before a portrait of Goddess Saraswati.8221;
Shukla says he at no point made singing of Saraswati Vandana compulsory. 8220;I only asked children to have regular prayers, not necessarily Saraswati Vandana. Even the government order issued in April last year during Mayawati8217;s chief ministership asks school administration to make children sing Ish Vandana8217; prayer to God8230;I have become the victim of a well-hatched conspiracy by corrupt bureaucrats.8221;
However, Shukla sticks to the demand for Vande Mataram, saying: 8220;There is no outcry when the song is sung at the beginning of every Parliament and Assembly session, among others by Muslim MPs8230;The song finds a mention in the Constitution as well. So why such a hue and cry is being raised whenI made it mandatory for our children8230;Those opposing it are unpatriotic.8221;
Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, who chose to dump both the Yojna and Shukla when matters heated up, washes his hands of too. He agrees that there was no mention of Saraswati Vandana in either the Yojna or any government order, but says the vandana mentioned to be performed before a portrait of Goddess Saraswati has to be Saraswati Vandana. 8220;It is clear therefore,8221; he said in a 10-page clarification, 8220;that Shukla did not send the correct status report to the Chief Minister and misled him, which is why he was sacked.8221;
Kalyan has even claimed that this was not the first time Shukla had not taken him into confidence. The Chief Minister says the sacked minister had issued an order on November 5 last year making worship of 8220;Bharat Mata8221; compulsory in government schools in Uttar Pradesh, and that he had had to withdraw the order after a controversy erupted.
Kalyan insists the issue is not about VandeMataram or Saraswati Vandana but about the breach of a chief minister8217;s trust by a member of his cabinet. 8220;Since the government order on the Kalpa Yojna issued by Shukla was unauthorised and irregular, it has been withdrawn,8221; his clarification said.
However, apart from others, even the RSS does not think the issue ends at that. It was discussed at a five-day chintan baithak conclave of the Sangh at Nagpur, where most participants justified the decision to make Vande Mataram compulsory in schools and decided to take the matter up with top BJP leaders.
8220;How can they ban the Rashtra Geet? It was penned by the eminent poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee to infuse patriotism among people during the freedom struggle8230;It8217;s relevant today and will remain so even tomorrow,8221; says a senior RSS leader.
Yojana8217;s plans
