Gyan Sangam provides a platform for academicians who are working on Bharatiya perspectives in various academic disciplines
Ganesh Krishnan R
A two day national level workshop — ‘Gyan Sangam’ was organised under the aegis of Prajna Pravah, an umbrella organisation for intellectuals and academicians, to
brainstorm on the issues pertaining to Bharatiya perspective on Education. With the primary objective of creating the academic ecosystem from Bharatiya perspective outside the government system, the event organised at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology and Management, focused on teaching, learning and content aspects of education in various disciplines. 721 academicians and experts, including 51 Vice-Chancellors, from all the 29 states participated in the brainstorming.
In an effort to give platform and ensure capacity building and encouragement for academicians who are working on Bharatiya perspective in various academic disciplines, Gyan Sangam was the first ever attempt in this direction. Scholars and researchers ranging from the subjects of art & culture, theatre, philosophy, social sciences, management, mass communication and pure sciences contributed in the deliberations.
Addressing the media, Akhil Bharatiya Samyojak of Prajna Pravah J Nandakumar said, “A Bharatiya
perspective has to be ushered in our own education system. Government alone cannot do that. The efforts should be made outside the Government too. As per history of Bharat, the education system was completely independent of government control. The society was taking care of education system. Gyan Sangam was intended for giving a platform and encouragement to all those academicians who are working in this field with a nationalist perspective.”
Quoting the observation of a three judges bench of the Supreme Court, Shri Nandakumar said, “Justice Sema, Justice Shah and Justice Dharmadhikari have summed up the prevailing education system as ‘Our young generation, influenced by the neagtive aspects of the Western culture, is stranded on cross roads’.” many commissions on education also mentioned the same concerns in their reports, he added.
The Sangam was broadly divided in three parts. Firstly, in parallel sessions, the participants presented and discussed content, contemporary trends and
challenges in their respective disciplines. Secondly, there were expert sessions dedicated to different themes. First speaker, an eminent thinker and columnist S Gurumurthy spoke on Cultural Onslaught. The session was chaired by the VC of BHU Dr G C Tripathi. In the second session on Intellectual Colonisation, under the Chairmanship of former Principal of Brihan Maharashtra Commerce College, Pune Aniruddha Deshpande, Acharya Vamdev Shastri (David Frawley), eminent writer and thinker and Dr Manohar Shinde, Founder Director, Dharma Civilisation Foundation, USA presented their views.
In the last special session on ‘Resurgence of Nationalism – East and West’, Prof V P Nanda, Professor of International Law, Denver University, USA spoke while the session was chaired by Prof B K Kuthiala,VC, MCRPV, Bhopal. Nowadays, there is a resurgence of nationalism across the world. On the difference between the Eastern and Western nationalisms, Prof Nanda shared his views with the delegates.
Thirdly, participants could interact with the RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat and could ask their queries and present their suggestions about creating the non-governmental and autonomous academic ecosystem in education. Sh Suresh Soni, RSS Sah-Sarkaryavah and ICHR Chairman Prof Sudershan Rao were present in the opening session
inaugurated by the Sarsanghachalak. RSS Sah-Sarkaryavah Dr Krishna Gopal also interacted with the participants.
The Sangam ended with the concluding address of the Sarsanghachalak in the presence of Prof Ashok Modak, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Eurasian Studies, University of Mumbai. The Sarsanghachalak highlighted that this is not an alternative but the real attempt to develop a Bharatiya perspective. He shared various efforts that are being made by voluntary organisations in this direction. The academicians resolved to make similar efforts in their own states about creating such forums with
reference to their subjects for inculcating Bharatiya perspective in education.
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