The Hindu right-wing groups headed by the RSS, the mentor of the ruling BJP has resumed its nefarious plans to saffronize education and culture in India, ever since the BJP came to power at the centre after securing a majority in the Lok Sabha elections held last year.
The political arm of the RSS, the BJP is facilitating this by laying the groundwork. It’s non-graduate minister for Human Resources Department (HRD), is playing the perfect foil to the RSS sinister programme. By yielding to this, the BJP is doing colossal damage to Indian education. Soon it would have to be called Indian fiction instead.
What is surprising is that most of the intelligentsia is quiet. Now is the time to stand and be counted. This sinister plan must be opposed. Government has no business in allowing this to happen. Just imagine the consequences, if they are allowed to go ahead with their nefarious plans. India would become a laughing stock in academic circles, as ancient mythology is palmed off as authentic history. Fiction like Indians had visited outer space and performed plastic surgery etc over six thousand years ago.
One thing however, our hindutva friends should bear in mind is that our children are smart and intelligent. They know to source various avenues to check if information is authentic or not. Secondly, you cannot herd our youth into one pan as if they are a bunch of cattle, because they are highly individualistic and they will not be brainwashed by fascist lies and half-truths.
However, eternal vigilance being the price for liberty the nation must be on guard against any attempt to muzzle our right to freedom and liberty by subtle attacks on truth through the backdoor, by subverting our education system.
Albert Colaco, by e-mail
