Convention of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti in Delhi Remove distortions in textbooks or face agitation

More than 500 scholars, educationists and literary persons assembled at the convention of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti (SBAS) held in New Delhi on July 9. The Samiti has warned the UPA government to curb the attempts on the part of NCERT and Union HRD Ministry with the help of leftists to distort Indian education, or be ready to face the consequences. To register their protest the educationists have decided to stage a massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 27. The protest march would be accelerated through various other rallies, conventions, seminars, demonstrations across the country. According to a resolution adopted at the convention, the agitation would be followed by massive rallies in state capitals. All members of the SBAS'scoordination committee will also tour the country to awaken the countrymen in this regard.

The convention called upon the countrymen to pressurise the government through their representatives?MPs and MLAs, to save the education from leftist distortion. ?We also appeal to the religious leaders of all communities to awaken the society against the anti-national Education Policy of the UPA government,? the resolution added.

Speaking at the convention, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, noted educationist and former Union HRD Minister said if the countrymen did not stand today against the distortion of education, their existence would be at stake. ?If you wish to secure your very existence, save your history. If you want to teach the correct history to your children, stand firmly today against the distortion. Otherwise in the coming 50 years neither you will survive, nor will anybody be here to tell you all this,? he said.

He added that no community can survive if it is not aware of its past. Talking about the brain-drain problem, he said right from the primary schools to the professional education, the Indian students are taught that India can do nothing and finally from the very beginning they start looking at the West for development. ?The attachment that should develop with the country through education does not develop among our students and after higher studies they prefer to go to abroad for service. This cannot stop till we change their mentality,? he said.

Referring to the victory of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti in the court, former NCERT director Dr J.S. Rajput, said the victory is howsoever big we should not sit silent. ?We should be ready all the time with more vigour and valour to fight more complicated fights in future,? he said. Dr Rajput stressed on deeper research to counter the vicious campaigns of the leftists. ?We cannot achieve the objectives just pointing out to others? weakness and mistakes. We should form several institutions, which with deeper research can prove that what opponents are saying is wrong and this is the truth. He said, after assuming the office, the UPA government has appointed several people in the educational institutions who have nothing to do with education or do not qualify for those important post. He stressed the need to start work on the larger canvas of education so that a patriotic generation can be developed in the country.

Shri Dinanath Batra, convenor of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti while comparing the distortion of education with the cheerharan of Draupadi in the court of Dhritrashtra, said that Marx and Macaulayputras were snatching the clothes of education in the court of Manmohan Singh, Arjun Singh and Somnath. ?The heads of all the courtiers might be down in the court of Dhritrashtra with shame, but today all the courtiers are enjoying it instead of feeling shame. It is a shame that today we have to fight in the court to prove that our ancestors were not foreigners and they did not eat beef. The NCERT counsel very shamelessly claimed in the court that he could prove that Hindus used to eat beef and freedom fighters were terrorists. There are preplanned efforts to defame the great personalities of the country. Whatever the foreign invaders said about our country, is being quoted by our rulers and so-called scholars today. What is more shame is that the NCERT is propagating and teaching this lie in schools,? he said.

ABVP leader, Shri Atul Kothari, said that parents happily fulfill the requirements of their children but they are reluctant to see what their child is reading in the school textbooks.

Representatives from Jain, Sikh, Jat, Brahaman and Arya Samaj were also present on the occasion.