Charak Shapath Row: DMK’s Pathological Hinduphobia

On April 30, the first year medical students of the State-run Madurai Medical College took the Maharishi Charaka oath suggested by the National Medical Council, during their inaugural function.

The Finance Minister of TN Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, who was present at the function, objected to it and asked why the students were taking Charaka oath, instead of the Hippocratic oath.

Immediately, it became a hot issue in the State with the DMK, the pseudo-secular parties and the fringe groups accusing the Central Government of ‘imposing Sanskrit’ and criticising Maharishi Charaka by taking a few lines from his text out of context. The very next day, on May 1, the State Government removed the Dean of the Madurai Medical College and kept him on the compulsory waiting list without giving any post. It also ordered a departmental enquiry against him. Further the TN Government directed all the medical colleges in the State to use only the Hippocratic oath hereafter.

The Charaka oath taken by the Madurai students was not in Sanskrit; it was the English translation. Besides, it was the decision of the students. But the DMK is not bothered. It is enough for them that it was taken from a book written in Sanskrit around 1900 years back.

The Charaka oath taken by the Madurai students was not in Sanskrit; it was the English translation. Besides, it was the decision of the students. But the DMK is not bothered. It is enough for them that it was taken from a book written in Sanskrit around 1900 years back

The State Health Minister later reasoned that now the Central Government would justify that the oath is only in English, but later they would use it for imposing Sanskrit. Hence TN should be careful and not allow this oath by students.

In fact, only now the DMK Government has come to know that students from three other medical colleges in the State had already taken Charaka oath earlier. So the Health Minister announced that the Government had initiated action against those colleges also.

TN Government is so ignorant of the fact that the Charaka oath was suggested by the National Medical Council during Feb 2022. Later, the Union Health Minister had clarified in the Parliament that the Charaka oath was not compulsory and it was only optional.

Hence it was left to the concerned States to take the decision. In fact, Charaka oath had been in practice in medical institutions even before the National Medical Council suggested it recently. A former Director of the AIIMS, Delhi, one of the premier medical institutions in the country, revealed that it was in use in AIIMS even before 2013. It is reported that around 150 medical colleges in the country are already under taking the Charaka oath.

The State Health Minister has noted that the Hippocratic oath is being used across the world. Unfortunately, he does not know that the original the version of the oath underwent many changes in different countries over the years. In fact, most of the scholars do not attribute the oath to Hippocrates himself.

Hence he may not be aware that many countries have already developed their own oaths and now there is no universally accepted oath. The US, the UK and several other countries have their own oaths. As early as 1949, the World Medical Association had adopted an international code of medical ethics.

Besides, experts note that Charaka oath was more suitable for the students entering the medical colleges, as it was written for a similar context during the earlier centuries. Moreover, Maharishi Charaka is revered as the father of medicine and Charaka Samhita is one of the foundational texts of ancient Indian medicine.

But for DMK, anything connected with our past, even if it is related to Tamil Nadu, is anathema. That is why they refuse to talk much about the Cholas, Cheras, Pandavas or Pallavas. Raja Raja, is one of the greatest rulers of India. But they don’t take pride in it. It was because they were pious, religious, established temples and
nurtured Tamil culture.

Tamil is the most ancient language in the world. Tamil culture and Hinduism are deeply intertwined. Tamil language grew over the centuries due to the contributions of the Hindu seers, sages and their verses and texts. This is the reason why Tamil Nadu has enormous literature related to Bhakti. In fact, the Bhakti movement has its origins in Tamil Nadu dating back to the seventh- eighteenth centuries, before spreading to other parts of our country.

But over the last forty years, the Dravidian parties have systematically removed the bhakti literature from the school texts. The DMK has been indirectly encouraging the Christian groups to paint well-known Thirukkural as the one connected to their ideology. Even in the Central Government-funded Central Institute of Classical Tamil, the texts related to the Bhakti period are forbidden for studies and research, thanks to the former Chief Minister Karunanidhi during whose period it was established.

When such is the treatment to even the ancient Tamil periods, how will they accept the greatness of India, particularly North India? Hence they completely abhor Sanskrit, Hindi and anything related to the Hindu culture. They don’t know the basic fact that Tamil and Sanskrit have deep connections, as the most ancient languages. They don’t even realise that even today almost all the Tamil families, including those from the Dravidian households, prefer the choicest Sanskrit names for their children.

For DMK, the history begins with the Justice Party founded in 1917, the earlier avatar of the Dravidar Kazhagam, which is the fountainhead of DMK. Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar EV Ramasamy asked Tamilians to speak in English at home, as Tamil was a barbaric language. He also wanted Tamil Nadu to be ruled by the British from London, even if Independence was given to India.

In less than a year after Stalin came to power in 2021, the Government has already demolished around 250 Hindu temples. During the last 45 years of rule by the Dravidian parties, temples have already lost around 50,000 acres of their lands. But the temple properties illegally occupied by the Christians have not been touched, even after the court orders.

The missionary and jihadi activities have rapidly increased during the last few months. Conversion groups are openly targeting schools.

When a Hindu girl Lavanya committed suicide in a missionary school after she was forced to convert, the DMK sided with the missionaries.

During April 2022, the DMK Government forcibly took over the Ayodhya Mandapam in Chennai amidst protests by devotees. It was constructed during the 1960s and managed by Sri Ram Samaj and used for satsangs and religious gatherings. After the protests by the devotees intensified, the Chennai High Court stayed the proceedings of the State Government.

Betraying slavish Mindset

Prof Pawankumar Godatwar, Professor, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur said that it was sad that the TN Government is seeing the issue not just through a tunnel vision but also looking through an entirely wrong tunnel. It is against the Indian ethos.

There are three points which he would like to highlight:

1. The concept of oath-taking is faith-based and as in courts it is pertinent that we adhere to a Rishi from our culture.
2. The contents of the oath are relevant and close to our senses and sensibilities. The unnecessary controversy surrounding ‘examining a female’ in presence of some member of her family is akin to the extant concept of chaperone which is mandated by law even today.
3. Hippocrates the giver of oath that the IMA swears by was of Greek origin. In other words Unani…another traditional medicine… So in every argument with commonsense, the issue is created out of nothing.

Talking about the controversy, Professor Puneet Misra, Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi, said, “I feel that we should be proud of our heritage. It is also a matter of pride that we have such scholars like Maharishi Charak or Sushruta. Not only India but the whole world demands these scholars, if a teacher administers any oath related to such scholars to his students, then there should be no objection to it. We have to consider that we are connecting our students to our glorious history.

This is not personal work. This is public work”. The teacher of that college did not make the students take oath in the name of Pakistan, which has been suspended. If we are getting the students administered the oath related to the scholars of our country, is it a crime? I think this is purely politics. Politics has no place in medical education. Charak Samhita has also been recognised by NMC. All the medical institutions of the country come under this. If in spite of this Charak Samhita is being considered a crime in Tamil Nadu then I condemn it. I want to say that the Tamil Nadu Government should give back the job to the fired professor. People who do such work in the spirit of national unity should not be punished.

Immediately after banning the Charaka oath from medical colleges in the State, the DMK Government has now banned the five centuries–old practice of the devotees carrying the Chief Pontiff of Dharmapuram Adheenam in a traditional procession.

Dharmapuram Adheenam (Mutt) is a highly respected Saiva Mutt in the State. Recently the Chief Pontiff of the ancient Madurai Mutt has openly voiced that he was under threat from the ruling party when he took steps to collect the huge amounts of dues from the tenants occupying the Mutt properties. He noted further that he would like to meet the Prime Minister, as there is threat to his life.

Thus the actions against the Hindu faith continues in Tamil Nadu with vigour, with the DMK in power. The CM does not even greet the citizens during the Hindu festivals, but participates eagerly in the functions of the Abrahamic religions with enthusiasm. So the Charaka oath issue is not an isolated one, it is part of the continuous agenda of the DMK. It is time for the Hindus in TN to join hands and speak in one voice, as the DMK is bent upon assaulting the Hindu civilisation.