Madhya Pradesh
‘Kargil War’ omitted from Syllabus by Kamalnath Government
While the nation is celebrating 20 years of Indian victory in Kargil on July 26, a separate chapter on the war and simultaneous Indian victory has been omitted from the college textbooks in Madhya Pradesh
Kargil War of 1999 is remembered for the indomitable courage and bravery displayed by the Indian Army in securing victory for the country and reclaiming occupied territories from the clutches of Pakistan. But it seems that the Congress party which has doubted the valour and capability of our defence forces in the recent past, has once again found itself on the wrong foot. BJP in Madhya Pradesh has alleged that the chapters related to the Kargil war have been removed from the college syllabus at the behest of the Congress.
News18 has reported that the change in the syllabus of MVM Science College comes after the Congress Government came to power. The MVM Science college is one of Bhopal’s oldest college which also has a course on Military Studies. After the Congress came to power in 2018 in Madhya Pradesh, the chapters on Kargil War have been removed from the 2019-20 syllabus. The same were included in the course even during the academic year of 2017-18. The college had instituted a team of 15 to 20 people to review the syllabus. It was this team that had
recommended the changes in the course syllabus.
However, no one from the government or the college have convincingly explained the reasons for excluding the chapters on Kargil War. Some say it is due to lack of books on Kargil War while a few others have said that there are no books written by credible authors on the war.
The BJP reacted strongly and has accused the Congress of politicising the Indian Army and the war. The party has said that the chapters were removed at the behest of the Congress Government as it does not want to tell the new generation about the heroic episode of victory against the enemy under Atal Behari Vajpayee’s regime.
Congress’ Indifference Towards Kargil War
It can be recalled that several Congress leaders in the past have referred to the Kargil War as BJP’s war. Congress state governments and UPA I & II had refused to celebrate the Kargil Vijay Diwas for a decade.
Congress MP Rashid Alvi in 2009 had infamously said that he saw no reason to celebrate the Kargil victory and that it was only for the NDA to celebrate. Similarly, UPA’s then Minister of State for Home Affairs Prakash Jaiswal did not even know the dates when Kargil War was fought. When the media asked him about Vijay Diwas, he wanted to know when was the day celebrated and why!
Given this attitude, removal of chapters on Kargil War in the college syllabus seems to be a continuation of Congress’ political stance over the Indian Army and the wars it has fought for the country. Even recently, many Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had doubted the Surgical Strikes and the Balakot Air Strikes and refused to commend the government for its political will. — Organiser Bureau
