Readers? Forum

Apropos (Making Education National), Organiser, June 16, the editorial makes a very interesting read. Unfortunately, people are saddened at the state of affairs and decline of the education system in the country. However, the draft National Education Policy released for public scrutiny somewhat reinforces the public faith in the system. With his deep knowledge and experience, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, an eminent scientist, seems to have done his best to salvage the present education system out of its abysmal depth. Despite the humongous hurdles put up by the South, especially Tamil Nadu which is driven by Dravidian-inspired opposition to the adoption of Hindi as a national language, it is heartening to see a growing number of millennial Tamils signing up to learn Hindi as a third language out of their own accord. According to statistics, the number of students learning Hindi in Tamil Nadu jumped from 2 lakh in 2014 to 5.7 lakh in 2018, of which 80 per cent were students. So, clearly, the Dravidian politics of ‘divide and rule’ against Hindi is no longer working in Tamil Nadu.

Apropos (The Way Ahead), Organiser, June 16, the delimitation exercise in Jammu & Kashmir is too little and too late. Nevertheless, it is better late than never. Because 70 years of injustice cannot be rectified overnight, though people have given BJP an unprecedented mandate in the Lok Sabha to go out and ensure political justice to the oppressed people of Jammu and Ladakh who have been at the receiving end of the Abdullahs and Muftis’ stranglehold on the rest of the state. Despite having less population, how can 40 seats in the 70 member State Assembly be given to Kashmir? Farooq Abdullah committed the biggest fraud by passing a resolution in the Assembly to freeze delimitation till 2026.

APROPOS (Changing the Education Landscape), Organiser, June 19, 2019, the new Education Policy of the country is expected to bring the education system of the country on the right track. Before implementing the education policy, the central government has rightly announced five crore scholarships for the students of minority communities with 50-per cent reserved for girls. Since the move is clubbed with proper training for madrasa teachers to bring them in the mainstream, it seems to be a strategic step because till now the madrasas had been providing old religious education to the Muslim children. If the madrasas also provide future education in tune with other educational institutions, it will create homogeneous next generation. It is noteworthy that for the first time, it has been clarified that minority communities other than Muslims will also be covered in the scholarship for minority students. Otherwise, till now mainly the Muslims were provided benefits through such schemes.

Apropos (Imperative to Ban Glyphosate), Organiser, June 16 despite India boasting of a huge pool of scientific talent, how come we remained oblivious to the evils of Glyphosate for such a long time? Now the question is not when the Central government will ban it; the question is when we collectively boycott the pesticides. As many as 17 experts from 11 countries from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have conclusively held their findings against Glyphosate. Monsanto is an evil entity that has taken Indian farmers on a royal ride, with their Genetically-Modified crops like BT Cotton and other evil products. It is time to kick all the evil corporations out of the country, forever!. It is necessary for the safety and security of our people also.