From: i000@iss700.Columbia.NCR.COM ()
Subject: Re: RSS (MP Education System: A Silent Revolution)
Originator: indu@iss700
Organization: NCR Corp, E&M-Columbia, Columbia, SC
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 21:14:10 GMT


     Madhya Pradesh Educational System: A Silent Revolution


An article "Injecting Propaganda" was recently published in India Today 
Aug'15 issue page 76-77. Though the analysis content of the article had 
usual anti-RSS bias  the News content proves the true picture of a 
dedicated work and its fruits. 

    I produce the IT article and its  News content. It is very 
interesting to note that the author had a pre-set anti-RSS mental frame and
at times had also made a mockery of himself (biases make a man lose control 
of what he is trying to say). Though I should also concede that the author
had also projected the facts in their true picture ( the news content) and 
only thru his analytical comments and keeping in view with his biases tried to
project something totally tangential. Thanks to him for providing some 
heartening news, though distorted with his analysis.

   Anyway, following "MADHYA PRADESH EDUCATION: a silent Revolution" (the 
   extracts from this article) is the original India Today article itself.
   ( Thanks for all those who have encouraged me to write and had sent their
     mail messages and guidances to me personally about the previous article 
     (Re: RSS ( a response to an E-Mail) ).     I can only say that IT IS 
     KEEPING IN VIEW WITH THE INDIAN belief in TRUTH I undertake this.
    
                  SATHYAM     EVA     JAYATHE

     And for those who have accused me of various traits my reply is,
     I'm here not to project and convince you of my intellectual capabilities.
     Also if you expect any response to all your comments I'm not here for that
     either. 
           I feel it is my duty to counter all that non-sense junk, and
     mudslinging on a Nationalist Volunteer Force (Rashtriya Swayamsevak
     Sangh), who undertake their objective with ultimate dedication. 
     These are the people whom one gets to see very rarely in ones life
     and then change ones way of life and goals.
        This non-profit, non-business organisation has been working with sheer
     motive of changing the face of India on the world map and restoration of 
     past glory. "It is not only to know the greatness of the past", 
     BUT also to get motivation out of your own history and trying to live
     upto the expectations and standards our fore-fathers have set. 
     IT IS THE ONLY ORGANISATION IN INDIA WHICH HAS UNDERTAKEN THE GIGANTIC
     TASK OF MAN-MAKING.
  )

   Also enclosed is the article India - Vedic math in school curriculum in 
   Uttar Pradesh, posted in misc.news.southasia by Shri. Dinesh Agarwal. 
   I would like to thank  him for permitting me to quote his article.

   The following news is extracted from  INDIA TODAY
     Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ALTRUISTIC EXPANSION    Jul'31 issue pp 27-28
     Madhya Pradesh: Injecting Propaganda                Aug'15 issue pp 76-77




           MADHYA PRADESH Educational System: A SILENT REVOLUTION


For all those who have been dis-heartened with the current educational set up 
in India, there is moment of jubiliation. The new BJP governments in MP, UP 
have started taking their responsibility of commitment to the NATION seriously.
Madhya Pradesh, a state claiming to have the Majority of Adivasis (tribals)
in India has started working on decentralisation of educational setup from
political forces. 
This objective also extends to 
  1. complete revolution in Educational setup, 
  2. achievement of 100% literacy through out the state, 
  3. keeping in view of the increased burden on the students, relieving 
       them of unnecessary burdens, 
  4. introduction of Sanskrit, Yoga, study of culture and Heritage ( as 
       recommended by NCERT, SCERT and  state UGC)
  5. Revising the text books in the following pattern
       -removal of Marxists and Leninists theories which were introduced 
        during the previous congress rules for classes starting from 
        Standard V and above (in this particular case withdrawal  of a chapter 
        on KARL MARX from a CLASS V text book)
       -Courses on freedom struggle to give due place and role to 
        freedom fighters like Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad 
        and their contributions and sacrifices
       -Providing more details about India's freedom struggle and the national
        leaders. These chapters also include Communists  and
        their significant role in their non-cooperation and their refusal to
        participate in QUIT INDIA movement 
       -Inclusion of national leaders and their contribution to INDIAN HISTORY
        like Chatrapati Shivaji, Maha Rana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh
       -comparitive studies between Indian culture and other western cultures
        introduction to vedic theories, principles, their advanced mathematics
        techniques and the society and its patterns and style of life of that
        age
       -inclusion of inspirational national leaders like DeenDayal Upadhyay,
        Dr.Hedgewar
  6. appointment of a non-profit organisation, Vidya Bharati, for undertaking
       these tasks.

    Vidya Bharati is a non-profit organisation with a network of 1600 schools
    in the MP itself. This organisation runs 5000 (five thousand) schools
    thru out the country - 1500 of them provide education upto the higher 
    secondary  level. the rest are Saraswati Sishu Mandirs set in Gurkul model
    where physical education, sanskrit, Yoga, Music, Moral and spiritual 
    education are cumpulsory. This scheme caters to 12 lakh students involving
    the efforts of 40,000 teachers. One of the schools run by this society
    Seva Dham Vidy Mandir has won the Certificate of Merit and a cash award
    of Rs. 50,000 from the Central Government in recognition of its 
    contribution to primary education. This also providing a new direction
    to a STAR-TV infested middle class, where children are getting exposed to
    these sanskaras.  Children begin their day with mantras and prayers to 
    parents, Bharat Mata and National heroes. This organisation formed during
    the 1960s (if I recollect it correctly) has got almost 90% of its schools
    recognised much before BJP came to power, during the Congress regimes.
    Some of the ideals of this organisation are setting up of schools
    (primary and secondary) at the tehsil levels, development of a NATIONAL 
    EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM which can create a generation loyal to Hindutva and 
    Nation. 

    (It is also heartening to note that Seva Bharati , a sister organisation 
     of Vidya Bharati, working in the direction 
     of welfare of schedule castes and promoting education, literacy and 
     vocational arts,  is teaching students with Hindu Sanskaras. This also
     has undertaken noble tasks of teaching Harijans in temples(with commendable
     success) setting up of Orphanages for children, Old and abandoned.
     This has got the official recognition from Delhi Development Authority
     which is providing this organisation with 8 offices. The Union Health and 
     Family welfare ministry gives it a token grant of Rs.6000 a year.)

 7. The MP government has employed an independent organisation, Ujjain based
    Itihas sansodhak Mandal, to rewrite history. The government has given a 
    grant of Rs. 6 lakhs. 

 8. Setting up of a Rural University Citrakoot Rural University in 
    Satna District under the auspices of Shri. Nanaji Deshmukh ( a personality
    well known for his contribution in setting up of the Vivekananda Rock 
    Memorial in Kanya Kumari) as the Chancellor of the university.

   
   These changes in educational system are being studied care fully by 
   Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh governments, would also be introduced in 
   those respective states. Uttar Pradesh government has already following on
   the same lines.

**************************************************************************
        THE FOLLOWING IS THE ARTICLE ON UTTAR PRADESH GOVERNMENT'S 
                 NEW ORIENTATION TO SCHOOL CURRICULUM


   
Article: 472 of misc.news.southasia
Newsgroups: misc.news.southasia
From: DXA4@PSUVM.PSU.EDU (Dinesh Agrawal)
Subject: India - Vedic math in school curriculum in Uttar Pradesh


From: Dinesh Agrawal
Source: Times of India, August 2, 1992
Country: India

August 7, 1992 (Date Received)

                      * * * * * * *

Lucknow: The new secondary school syllabus in UP reveals the extent to which
the Kalyan Singh ministry has gone to ensure both teachers and students in
this home state of Ram and Krishna draw inspiration from the Vedas and other
Hindu scriptures. The textbooks of mathematics, history and Hindi have been
given new chapters glorifying Indian and ancient cultural heritage dating
back to the Vedas.

   The mathematics syllabus for class IX includes the preliminary principles
and practices of vedic mathematics, dating back to 1000 BC.

   The objective, says the education director in the preface of the mathematics
textbook, is to apprise students of the glorious traditions of maths in India.

   A 296-page tabloid size teacher's guide for teaching Vedic maths in high
school classes is full of diagrams, illustrations and brilliantly written prose
on the virtues of vedic maths.

   VEDIC MATHS: Quoting jagat guru Shankaracharya Swami Bharti Krishna Tirathji
maharaj, a spokesman of the government says; present research has brought to
light the perfect  mathematical structure of the Vedic texts. The 16 Vedic
sutras provide a structured system which is applicable in, and hence, is capa-
ble of explaining almost any facet of cosmos both at abstract as well as appl-
ied levels. These sutras in their philosophical interpretations even explain
the functioning of human psychology.

   "Sanskrit is a rich language and for deeper meaning, one has to dive deep
into the original sutras. The first Vedic sutra, ekadhiken purvena in simple
English means 'by one more than the previous one' and a couple of very 
interesting applications are presented in Pushp-I"

    Almost all the sutras have been incorporated in the new maths syllabus for
secondary level students.

    In April, a special workshop was held by the UP state council for education
research and training (SCERT) in Allahabad on the development of Vedic maths
syllabus wherein the Vedic approach of bindu mein sindhu was explained. "In
Vedic thought we always think of a large number of possibilities and we consi-
der that each small drop represents an ocean. Further, both negative and posi-
tive forces co-exist to make the play go on. Perfectly in tune with this we
find that in Vedic maths we have both positive and negative digits and a
number consisting of them is called vinkulam number," went the explanation.

  HINDI BOOKS: New Hindi textbooks for secondary school students have some
fundamental changes. A conscious effort has been made to include chapters
glorifying India's ancient past.

   A five-page long poem eulogising the bravery of King Maharana Pratap in the
battle of Haldighati written by Shyam Narayan Pandey has been included in the
recognised book Kavya Sankalan for high school.

   The back covers of all the recognised textbooks mandatorily carry Vande
Mataram, the anthem by Bankim Chandra Chatterji.

   Changes that have come about in History books are not fully known as they
have not yet come out of the government Press. However, the government has
decided that the history books will portray the full Indian glory. The books
lay stress on reiterating that the Aryans were the original inhabitants of
India and not immigrants from across the seas.

                                * E N D *

 ************************************************************************
                Madhya Pradesh: Injecting Propaganda
                INDIA TODAY, Aug'15 pg 76-77
 ************************************************************************


Have you heard this one? If 15 karsevaks demolish the Babri Masjid in 300 days
how many karsevaks will it take to demolish the Masjid in 15 days? There is 
no punch line however, because this is no joke. It is one of the questions to
be introduces in a mathematics text book for primary school students in Madhya
Pradesh - part of the RSS's grand design to etch its Hindutva ideology on 
impressionable minds in the state.

Undoubtedly the subversion of the education system by the RSS has state BJP
government's backing. To give education a saffron hue, entire text books from
nursery to post-graduate level are being rewritten with a Hindu emphasis. More
alarming the governments decision to give Vidya Bharathi an RSS-run educational
organisation, permission to set up a parallel education board conducting class
five and eight exams. Till now these exams were conducted by the Education 
department.

As the BJP efforts to subvert history acquire serious proportions, the 
OPPOSITION is beginning to stir. Last fortnight the Congress(I), the CPI, the
Janata Dal formed a common forum, the sampradayak sadbhavana manch, to fight the
RSS infiltration intyo the state government. Says MPCC(I) chief Digvijay Singh:
"The recent example of RSS infiltration was the government decision to permit
Vidya Bharati to conduct examinations".

His concern is legitimate. The decision has far-reaching ramifications. With 
around 1600 Vidya Bharathi schools catering to 1.95 lakh students in the state.
the RSS run institution now enjoys the carte blanche to steer students minds
in the 'right' direction. The organisations Hindutva leanings are proclaimed in
its official brochure "Our goal is to develop a national education system which
can create a generation loyal to Hindutva and the Nation". As Vinayak Shindey
an RSS worker incharge of the state Vidya Bharathi says "A silent revolution
is taking place in Madhya Pradesh".

Although the government insists the rewritten history will only be correcting
a "distorted" history, its new version is tailored to perpetuate the RSS 
ideology. While many text books are still being tampered with, the state 
University Grants Commission has already introduced a new text book, BHARAT
KI SANSKRITIK VIRASAT (Cultural Heritage of India) in the foundation course.
While commission chairman Om Nagpal claims that the book lays emphasis on
"Projecting the Past Glory of India", it often borders on crude glorification
of all things Indian. Consider these 
  "Indian culture is the best in the world...
   The Vedas which epitomise the height of Indian culture, were written at a
   time when western countries were not even civilised"; 
   India is the original place of the Aryans. It is open to question that they
   migrated to other countries from India".

The new book also interprets the Freedom movement with a strong RSS bias. For
instance it is often critical of Gandhi: "The Gandhi-Irwin pact will always
be looked down at with suspicion and criticism in the background of hanging
of Bhagat Singh and his colleagues". In keeping with the parties rightist 
ideologies, the communists who have refused to participate in the Quit India
movement have been described as "traitors".

The rewritten history subverts information by highlighting certain facts and 
omitting others. Some of the changes that have been agreed upon: a chapter 
on Karl Marx will be withdrawn from a class five textbook; history books will
now project Maha Rana Pratap and Shivaji as heroes and Aurangajeb as villain;
other text books will include biographies of RSS leaders such as Deendayal
Upadhyaya and Hedgewar, and courses on freedom struggle will quote extensively
from the writings of the original Hindutva hero, V.D.Savarkar.

The education department has already withdrawn supplementary readers used from
class three to eight. The idea as Education Minister Vikram Verma explained
was to "lighten the load on the Children". But the real reason behind scrapping
the readers was that they included the Biographies of certain national leaders 
who are anaethema to BJP.
  
Not surprisingly, the issue had forced its way to into parliament, forcing
Human Resource Development minister Arjun Singh to declare: "I would only
plead with the Madhya Pradesh government not to treat Gandhi, Mohammed, Buddha,
and Christ as a burden on children".

The state government ofcourse defends itself. According to education department
the books are being rewritten under the normal revision programme to update
them. But tripping the veil off the Governments pious facade is the conversion
of Vidya Bharati into a parallel examination board. It is no coincidence that
the number of Vidya Bharati schools in the state has shot up from 1,200 to 
1,600 since the BJP came to power. The government has also relaxed the rules for
appointment of Vidya Bharati teachers,; they do not need to undergo training 
at a government institution.

There have been other examples of government's largesses to Vidya Bharati. 
Although Vidya Bharati claims not to take any grant from government, in Bhopal 
its office is located in a Government bunglow. More over Vidya Bharati 
schools  all over the state have been allotted about 200 plots, costing 
crores, free or for a nominal fee. Vidya Bharati is now close to achieving its 
goal of acquiring atleast one-plot of land in each of the 317 tehsils in state.
The state Housing board chairman, Rajendra Dharkar, a BJP politician has 
announced in no uncertain terms that Vidya Bharati schools will be given 
priority over other in allocation of land.

The grossly preferential treatment given to Vidya Bharathi has raised many
eyebrows. However, Chief Minister SunderLal Patwa contends that Vidya Bharati 
has been working with unparalleled devotion without government help so far. 
Besides, the education department points out that about 90 percent of Vidya 
Bharati schools were recognised during the Congress(I) rule in the state. 
"Why should there be such a hue and cry if their noble activities have received
a little encouragement in the last two years?".

However it is the RSS insidious motives that are raising hackles. The 
opposition parties have denounced the decision to grant autonomy to Vidya 
Bharati as "a conspiracy by the RSS to infiltrate the Educational field".
Digvijay singh is furious: "The BJP government wants to turn the schools into 
centres for dissemination of RSS propoganda". His party has submitted a 
memorandum to the Governor accusing the BJP government of trying to pollute
young minds with communal views.

There are other RSS-linked organisations that are also promoted. The 
government has a grant of Rs.6 lakh to the Ujjain based Itihas Sansodhak Mandal
to rewrite history from a Hindu point of view. Apart from this, it has begun 
the Chitrakoot Rural University in Satna district - with RSS leader 
Nanaji Deshmukh as Chancellor - which will function "on the lines of NALANDA
and Takshasila".

In the fact of such evidence, few believe the state government when it says
it has no intention of subtly filtering its ideology into states social and
educational structure. Even fewer will do so when their children start 
sprouting RSS shibboleths such as "the 21'st century will be the century of 
Hindus" in the same breath as their sweet little nursery rhymes.

             ***********  END   ***************


-Indu.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  The views expressed above are on my personal basis.                 |
|  No Group or  Organization   can be held responsible                 |
|                                ( for those in quest of truth .......)|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian