Bhao Rao Deoras Saraswati Vidya Mandir

(NOIDA, UP)

 

 

The worst classification – what they declare to be “hate-mongering”

What is a Saraswati Vidya Mandir?

A school. “Saraswati” is the Goddess of Learning. “Vidya Mandir” means  “temple of learning”. Indians of all religions respect learning, and to consider a school to be a “temple of learning” is completely common and appropriate, except perhaps to the Marxist Communists.

 

Vidya Bharati’s official home-page [[i]] which gives info on the curriculum in the Saraswati Vidya Mandirs:

 

“National Common Core Curriculum : Vidya Bharati has evolved a common National syllabus to be followed by its schools.

Physical Education : Classwise physical Education syllabus has been developed. There are only guide-lines for the teachers and no text-books. More emphasis is laid upon practical side of the subject so that all our students may have sound body. Regional Physical Training Centres have been established for specialized physical training.

Yoga Training : Practice of Yoga is compulsory for all schools. The results are amazing. Physical, psychological intellectual and spiritual development of the students has been ensured. In this subject, too, there are no text books. There are guide-lines for teachers. There is provision in every state to impart training to teachers in this subject.

Moral & Spiritual Education : Children are potential nation builders. The honour & growth of the country depends upon the character of her children. To this effect a comprehensive syllabus has been developed for inculcating moral, patriotic & spiritual values. Resource material & guidelines for teachers are under preparation.

Sanskrit language teaching : Sanskrit is the mother of the most of the languages not only of India but of the rest of world also. Sanskrit literature contains the invaluable treasure of Indian Sanskriti and of the knowledge acquired by the ancient rishis. Sanskrit is also the key to national unity. That is why high priority has been given to the teaching of this language in all the schools & colleges . Sanskrit department of Vidya Bharati is located at Kurukshetra in Haryana. This department has published text books for primary classes called 'Dev Vani Sanskritam' based on conversation method.

Music Teaching : Music vibrates the innermost strings of our heart. It is taught in all the schools. Audio music cassettes of high quality have been prepared including one containing Birth-Day celebration songs. Classwise syllabi have also been promulgated. Students sing songs in all languages of the country.

Place of Sanskrit  Constitution of India ARTICLE 351 - It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindu Language ... and to secure its enrichment.... for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.

National Education 3(D) Sanskrit: Considering the special importance of Sanskrit to the growth and development of Indian languages and its unique contribution to the cultural unity of the country, facilities of its teaching at the school and university stages should be offered on a more liberal scale. “

 

Some references on the web:

 

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Haryana
”... Shifa, Babita top matric exam

Bhiwani, October 1:

 Shifa, a student of Saraswati Vidya Mandir High School, Jind and Babita Sehrawat of Jeewan Jyoti Public High ...
http:// www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021002/haryana.htm”

“Shifa” doesn’t sound like a “Hindu Extremist” name, does it? …

Who wants them banned and closed down?

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0202/71.html

 

Anjali Mody’s article in the Hindu claiming that RSS run schools skew the teaching of history and culture [[ii] ]

A slightly more objective and less hyperventilating article on the issue: From “The Week”, Nov. 15. 1998. Author: Debashish Mukerji.

 

“Education Controversy: It is war of ideas

 

"It is a war of ideas," declared Dinanath Batra, Vidya Bharati general secretary. "On the one side are ranged the forces of Macaulayism, Marxism and Minorityism. On the other are those who revere the Indian tradition and want the present trends in education to be reversed.

 

"Let the people of India decide once and for all whether Saraswati Vandana should be sung or not. Let us make up our minds whether the contents of the Vedas and the Upanishads should be widely disseminated or not." Added P.D. Chitlangia, the educationist whose very presence at
the education ministers' meeting was strongly objected to on the grounds that he was "an outsider": "I don't understand the mindset of the people who objected to Saraswati Vandana. Saraswati Puja is a holiday in West Bengal, and yet its state minister [Kanti Biswas] objects! The Bible can be taught in Christian schools, the Koran can be taught in madarsas, but Hindus cannot be taught the Ramayana!"

 

(whine-whine.deleted .) “.. In the top-level central research institutes, Joshi has replaced left-leaning academics with those close to the sangh parivar. The Indian Council for Historical Research was the first to come under the axe, followed by the Indian Council of Social Science Research and the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. Protests were muted since Joshi was well within his rights. …

 

 

“…… But RSS leaders offered numerous examples to underscore the perfidy of the forces ranged against them. On Macaulayism: "Our present education system is a legacy of the British and specifically Lord Macaulay, who wanted to create a nation of clerks," said a senior RSS leader.

 

On Marxism, Vidya Bharati leaders fished out a newspaper clipping of 1992 which reported that one of the essay topics in the Hindi paper of the West Bengal state education board examination was Lal kilay par lal nishan, Maang raha hai Hindustan (India needs Communist rule at the
Centre). [ Accurate translation: “The Red Flag on the Red Fort – asks India.” ]

 

"…And these are the people who accuse the RSS of indoctrination," said Batra. On minorityism, Batra referred to the Urdu syllabus of Karnataka. "Of the 237 lessons taught in the Urdu language classes from Standard II to X, 35 are on Islamic festivals and religious sites, 56 are about Muslim religious leaders and only seven on Indian national leaders. In these seven too, the content is very peculiar, they have one lesson on 'Gandhiji at a Madarsa'.

 

…..

"The all-round development of a child's personality is not possible without spiritual attainment," maintains the Vidya Bharati booklet. …. though the Saraswati Shishu Mandirs teach all the subjects stipulated by the state education boards, they also teach a compulsory 'core curriculum' comprising six
subjects: physical education, Sanskrit, music, yoga, moral and spiritual education, and sanskriti gyan (knowledge of culture).

 

Moral and spiritual education has a heavy dose of precepts and quotations from the Hindu religious texts. But it is Sanskriti Gyan which is the real eyeopener. Special textbooks on the subject published by Vidya Bharati are prescribed from Class IV. An All-India Sanskriti Gyan Examination is also being conducted since 1980, open to all those who want to take it.

 

[ Wow! Teach Sanskrit in India? ]

 

And what are the assertions made in these textbooks? That Ram Janmabhoomi is Ram's birthplace..

 

[ Duh! What else should they claim it to be? General Musharraf’s birthplace?  . (note: “Janma Bhoomi” means, in Sanskrit, “Birth Place” – but apparently some Indian English-language writers are not literate enough to know that  ]

 

Aryabhatta, and not Copernicus or Galileo, first said the earth revolved round the sun. The Pythagoras theorem was known to Indians long before it occurred to Pythagoras. The Iliad of Homer owed its inspiration to the Ramayana. Ayurveda is the first medical system of the world!

 

[Note exclamation point used by the writer.. best proof of the need for education reform in India.. ]

 

"This is what we mean when we talk of 'Indianising and nationalising' education," said Batra. "The wisdom of the Vedas and the Upanishads must be made available to our children. The contribution of our ancients to physics, chemistry, architecture (the entire Vastu theory) should be appreciated. Vedic mathematics is taught outside India, but in India it is not taken seriously. Ayurveda is catching on in the West, while we disparage it and turn to allopathy." The second major focus of the Hindutva brigade is Sanskrit. "I attended a Hindi-medium school," recalled Chitlangia, "where we were taught three languages: Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit. No English! And this was in British times! There was no objection to Sanskrit then. But there is objection to Sanskrit now!"

 

…"Every commission on education has stressed that primary education should be in the mother tongue," pointed out Batra.

 

[An amazing concept to the writer. Wonder if he’s ever been to Japan, Germany or France, or studied the engineers and scientists developed there..]

 

 

Chitlangia added: "English is spoken by just three per cent of our population, who enjoy an unfair advantage because of this knowledge. Why should it be allowed to continue?" Among the less harped upon proposals of the RSS-Vidya Bharati are the setting up of value education centres, where the merits and demerits of different religions could be debated by young people, the introduction of special courses for girls in 'housekeeping', as well as a course in Indian philosophy for all those taking up higher education.

 

But what it has set its heart upon is the amendment of Article 30 of the Constitution which allows minorities to run their own educational institutions. "We do not want to tread on minority rights," said Batra. "All we want is that members of the majority community should enjoy the same privileges if they set up their institutions. Or else we have such situations as the Ramakrishna Mission being forced to call itself a minority institution."

 

If the RSS agenda in education ever comes to pass, what will be the fate of the minorities? RSS leaders are quick to offer security. "The Vedas are inherently secular," insisted the RSS leader. "The Vedas maintain that Truth is One, but people have different perceptions of it. Which other religion could have produced a Ramakrishna Paramhans, who could become a practising Muslim and Christian for brief periods and yet remain a Hindu?"