Resist Twin Attacks of RSS on Education

Education is considered a tool to inculcate independent thinking in students. The basis of education is conveying real facts and established principles to the students through their curriculum, equipping them to analyse these facts and evolve their independent thinking. This will lead to a rational society, but education is used as a means for ideological indoctrination by the RSS-BJP, for communalising the entire society to implement their strategy of establishing a Hindu Rashtra.

The present BJP government is not only using educational institutions to communalise education through presentation of wrong facts, fabricated history and wrong interpretations but also using these institutions as a tool for opinion building and defending their economic policies. This is a very dangerous trend wherein a communal government is using education institutions to justify its failed and anti- people policies and religion is being used to justify the government’s unjustified actions.

One such case is the attempt of saffronisation of higher education in Banaras Hindu University. It is a reflection of the agenda of the RSS-BJP when questions such as ‘Manu is the first Indian thinker of Globalisation; Discuss’ appears in the examination of Masters of Arts in Political Science.

In Banaras Hindu University which has recently witnessed determined struggle of girl students against the university administration and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the question of their security, MA first-semester students were shocked when they saw question paper for subject ‘Social and Political Thoughts of Ancient India’. They were asked to write an essay on the nature of GST in Kautilya’s Arthashastra or Manu is the first Indian thinker of Globalisation. Discuss’.

This is not a simple case of questions from out of syllabus but reflects the kind of conspiracy working to ruin higher education. In the above example, students are forced to think and write in a certain way or they have to lose marks. This is the whole idea to compel students to think in a certain way. According to a media report quoting anonymous student, “These ridiculous and unpalatable questions in question paper are really disheartening. Students are being taught these fictitious concepts just to validate the policies of the present government. Even last year, students were taught the benefits of demonetisation and that characters in the Ramayana had used surgical strikes to defeat enemies. However, we were not tested on them after we objected.”

It is a well-established fact that demonetisation, which was considered a master stroke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has severely hit the economy and the poor had to bear the tragic pain with many of them dying while standing in long queues in front of ATMs and banks. Millions of people lost their employment which affected their families. There are various assessments regarding individuals losing their jobs and lives but the number of affected people increased many folds as demonetisation ruined their families also. While people were coming out of this disaster of demonetisation, then came the Goods and Services Tax hitting hard the businesses. The BJP and the RSS have realised that history will not forgive them for these anti-people policies so they are trying their old established theory. They don’t want people to assess these policies but are forcing people to think only benefits. They are discussing these policies in the classroom to have their real analysis but trying to portray them as noble and useful policies by linking their false roots to our ancient fabricated history i.e. GST with Kautilya and demonitisation with the Ramayana.

The RSS is trying to control the whole structure of education by deploying its people or pracharaks who are justifying these attempts by their blatant lies. In this case also the person responsible for setting the question paper is Professor Kaushal Kishore Mishra, from BHU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, who openly admits in media that he is a member of the RSS. Professor Mishra gives a list of ridiculous justification for teaching these biased concepts in classroom and in support of these questions which carries 15 marks each.  

It is important to note that education is being targeted by the central government and the RSS right from the first day. In the name of Indianisation, they are trying to communalise it and trying to propagate their ideas. Pseudoscience and false history are being taught to students in various BJP-ruled states which are polluting the young minds with venom of communalisation. There were attacks on the institutions of higher education earlier. But now they are directly interfering with the content of higher education also. Indian education system doesn’t stand for these values. Universities especially are known to promote rational and logical thinking. It is a clear indicator of the RSS’s slow but deliberate attempt of “saffronising” the education system of the country and in the process, feeding a large number of young brains with their core ideology of Hindutva. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.