Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko in a statement said that the BJP Central Government is staging a conspiracy to ‘saffronize’ education sector amid the corona virus pandemic. In his statement he alleged that ‘Hindutva’ principles of the RSS are being infused in school and college syllabus.
“Schools were closed due to corona pandemic during the last 2020-21 academic year. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had announced that it will reduce the workload of students, citing the fact that classes are conducted through the internet. Lessons from CBSE textbooks for grades 9 through 12 were reduced by 30 percent.”, he said.
He also said that chapters on federalism, civil rights, nationalism and secularism were completely removed from the 11th grade political science subjects along with chapters on Indian Democracy, Social Organization and Social Processes in the sociology course.
“Thus in the wake of the removal of the subjects the agenda of the RSS was exposed. Now, the curriculum for the undergraduate history course, which has now been approved and recommended by the University Grants Committee in the same context, is being done in the same context.”, Vaiko said.
He said that the elements of ‘Hindutva’ principles of the RSS like Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis and Puranas have been included in the syllabus.
“The first chapter of the old syllabus of the undergraduate history curriculum of Delhi University is about the early history of India. But now the first part of the new syllabus talks about the ‘Conceptualization of Bharatvarsha’. Vedic texts such as the Vedas, Vedantas, Upanishads, Smritis and Puranas are being called as ‘eternity of Bharat’.” he said.
“In the third paper, the early period of history till 550 BC is referred as ‘Sindhi-Saraswati Civilization – its rise, fall and continuity’. Saraswati is a river mentioned in Puranas. There is no history or archaeological proof for it.”, Vaiko said in his statement.
“The mythical Saraswati River which the RSS Sanatana organizations consider as true history has now been infused in the syllabus”, Vaiko further added.
He also expressed dismay at Ramayana and Mahabharat being given importance and alleged that Muslim rule in India has been downplayed where Muslim kings have been called ‘invaders’.
“The seventh paper which was hitherto titled ‘Indian Society’ has been split into two – Hindu Society and Muslim society talking about the caste, occupation groups, lifestyle, customs, traditions of the communities.” he said.
He also said that lessons on Dalit politics that was there in the existing syllabus has now been removed.
“The ‘1857’ soldier’s revolt was called the ‘First War of Independence’ by the leader of the Hindu Maha Sabha, V.D. What Savarkar described is included in the lesson as it is. Prior to that, the Sanyasi Rebellion in Bengal, the Paika Rebellion in Odia and the Vellore Revolution in Tamil Nadu have not been included.” Vaiko alleged adding further that the 1905 partition of Bengal and its related incidents has been removed wantedly.
He also alleged that the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Ambedkar have been ignored.
“It is highly reprehensible that the syllabus for the Bachelor of History degree has been changed to suit the Hindu Sanatan doctrine. The fascist tendency that paves the way for saffron ideology in the field of education must be stopped immediately.”, he said.
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