A nation, like an individual, lives or dies on the strength of self-respect and self-confidence. Undermining our self-respect is the surest way to destruction. That has to be resisted with all the strength we have
In the science textbook for Class 9, brought out by the Kerala State Education Board, the authors had made a startling discovery – that Arab physician and chemist Abu al-Qasim Al-Zahwari who lived in the 10th century CE is the ‘father of surgery’– an honour which would make even Al-Zahwari turn in his grave. To achieve this feat, Kerala educationists had to trample upon Indian contributions to medical sciences and turn the chronology upside down. The controversial content finds its place on page 34 of the textbook: “Great people and their contributions”.
But those who are aware of the ways of the Left vouch that this is still ‘tolerable’, given the Leftists’ penchant for everything Islam and hatred for Hindutva. Earlier, a poem by Al-Qaeda leader found a place in a textbook for high school students. A former minister had extolled the greatness of Osama bin Laden in one of his poems. Fortunately for students, it was not prescribed in the syllabus.
It’s not political motivation alone that is driving Leftists to undertake such academic adventures of quixotic proportions. There’s a deep-rooted contempt for everything Hindu and Indian.
Some time ago, in a viral video, ‘eminent’ Marxist historian Romila Thapar was heard claiming that Yudhishtira got wind of the idea of ‘renunciation’ from King Ashoka and the Buddhist literature.
Recently, a top Left intellectual called upon the Left parties to align with radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India as both the organisations share convergence in many areas especially ‘hatred for Hindu and India’. Islamists often buy into the Leftist critique of Hindutva while Islamists provide muscle to the anti-Hindu instincts of the Left at national level. As American commentator William S Lind says, Marxism and Islam “have made a Devil’s bargain whereby each assists the other against a common enemy”. This holds true in the Indian context.
Over the years, this lopsided mindset – that the majority is always at fault and should be denounced–has permeated deep into the body of secular politics. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken this to absurd levels. Taking a cue from Bangladeshi Islamists, Mamata ‘secularised’ Bengali to de-Hinduise it. Her Government removed all words from school textbooks which have a Hindu connection. The West Bengal Council for Higher Education has replaced the Bangali word for rainbow, Ramdhenu (Ram’s bow) with rongdhenu (bow of colours). Mamata has taken a cue from Islamists in Bangladesh who had junked many words in Bengali to erase all traces of Hindu influence. According to some Bengali scholars, there is no word called rongdhenu in Bengali lexicon. In the chapter titled Barnali in the textbook for Class VII, Environment and Science, it is mentioned that a rongdhenu has aasmani—the Urdu word for sky blue that is widely used in Bangladesh—as one of its colours. The State Education Department has done away with the Bengali equivalent akaashi.
The Left intellectuals have been promoters of the colonised mindset. Noted scholar Koenraad Elst states: “It is a fact as well as a matter of wonder that sixty-five years after India gained her independence, it still makes perfect sense to discuss ‘decolonisation’. The omnipresence of the English language is the most visible factor of a permanently colonised condition, others are the total reliance on Western models in the institutions and in the human sciences.”
The Left intelligentsia who had total control of institutions of education and excellence always resisted any move to bring about a change in the colonial narrative. Colonialists tried to push six ‘I’s—Inferiority, Ignorance, Inertia, Incompetency, Ill-will and Irreverence into the blood streams of society. One of the effects of centuries of captivation in a colonial psychology is an inferiority complex and an attitude of self-reproach. Many of us are ignorant about the greatness of our rich heritage because we were not taught about that. As prominent lawyer Nani Palkhivala once remarked, a bit harshly, “India is like a donkey carrying a sack of gold. The donkey does not know what it is carrying but it is content to go along with its load on its back.”
The Left and secular politicians have been trying to destroy our national pride and character. A nation, like an individual, lives or dies on the strength of self-respect and self-confidence. Undermining our self-respect is the surest way to destruction. That has to be resisted with all the strength we have. Then only we can emerge as a world leader.
