Skip to main content

Gujarat PUCL's "secular" chief approvingly quotes RSS boss Mohan Bhagwat on new education policy

Bhagwat
Counterview Desk
In a surprise move, a senior official of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has quoted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to justify his arguments in on working out a new education policy, for which Union human resources minister Smriti Irani had sought comments by December 15.
In his letter to Irani, dated December 15, Gautam Thaker, general secretary PUCL, Gujarat, singles out Bhagwat to justify why commercialization of education should be discouraged. Reference to Bhagwat, rather than any other prominent educationist, to prove his point is intriguing, as it comes amidst human rights organizations, including PUCL, increasingly criticizing the Narendra Modi government for “following” RSS’ Hindutva diktat.
Recently, Kavita Shrivastava, all-India PUCL vice-president, for instance, believes, "The RSS mindset has been working fast after Modi came to power.”
“The RSS policy is that if you insist on a different point of view or disagree with the RSS, they will eliminate you.” Calling it “the legacy of Nathuram Godse”, who killed Gandhiji, she added, it is being resurrected to “silence” rationalists likes of Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi, whose murders have provoked widescale protest against the Modi government.
Thaker quotes Bhagwat as saying that in recent years there has been “incessant commercialization of education”, as a result of which education has become “out of reach of the common man.” Bhagwat adds, “As a result of this, the aims of education are not being fulfilled.”
Bhagwat has been further quoted as saying that “the government should work for promoting quality educational in such a way that such commercialize does not take place”, adding, “The process must begin by fixing criteria for the selection of teachers who are able to provide quality education.”
Interestingly, in his letter to Irani, Thaker, while providing his views on new education policy, does not even once recall the controversial books by veteran RSS "educationist" Dinanath Batra, which are now part of the state’s educational curriculum in Gujarat, with Haryana now all set to follow suit.
Batra’s books propose to ban the teaching of foreign languages in schools, “redraw” the map of India to include neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc., advises young minds not to celebrate birthdays with cake and candles, and, even as derogatorily identifying blacks as “Negroes”, seeking to suggest that they are criminals needed to be dumped.
Writing as general secretary, Citizen for Democracy (Gujarat), Thaker, curiously, despite quoting Bhagwat, talks of the need for “secularization” of education, which seeks to scientific temper, on one hand, and value-based education on the lines of those suggested by Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave.
Seeking the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in its letter and spirit to promote universalization of education, Thaker insists that all children up to the age of 18 should be provided with free and compulsory education.
Thaker’s letter to Irani – written in Gujarati, and sent on December 15, the deadline by which the ministry had sought suggestions from public on working out a new education policy – said that private investment in higher education, which was to the tune of 62.32 billion dollars in 2013-14, would double by 2018.
“Already, 60 per cent of students study in private institutes”, Thaker said, pointing out that their main is not to promote education per se but to “profiteer” at the expense of the general public, which is “not proper.”

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.