The current education system has made students and young people lazy, leading to drug addiction, said Retired Director General of Police (DGP) Jacob Thomas IPS. He was speaking at the inauguration of Lakshya, the Social Media Confluence, on March 9, in Kochi. The main theme of the confluence was ‘Movement Against Drugs, Based on Youthful Positivity’.
The former DGP of Kerala said that in earlier times, only studious students received grades and promotions. Now, they receive A Plus even without studying properly. There is no atmosphere for healthy competition in educational institutions. There is no healthy competition in physical activities or the arts. There is no provision for motivation or a sense of direction to develop students’ inherent talents. Teachers merely teach the syllabus. If a teacher takes the initiative to correct a student, he faces action and wrath! As a result, children are lazy; they do not know what is right and what is wrong. Society moves in the same direction. The tendency in Kerala is ‘not to call a spade a spade’. If some people are guilty, there is no one to point it out.
Dr Jacob Thomas said that no one dares to say that Hamas’s atrocities against women in Israel are wrong. No one condemns the act of displaying naked Israeli women in moving vehicles. Instead, narratives are created to justify these actions. However, when Israel retaliates, the same narrative creators scream against it. In Kerala, everything is empty—the treasury is empty. Fake narratives are created to give the impression that everything is fine. After COVID-19, a narrative was created that Kerala is number one in healthcare. Now, a new narrative is making the rounds that Kerala is progressing industrially. A company from outside the state has been appointed to create these narratives. Lakhs of rupees are spent on this. However, drug addiction among children and increasing murders dominate the scene. It is a frightening situation. He stated that social media has a duty to expose this reality.
The retired DGP emphasised that we should always stand for solutions. We must expose the forces that oppose our path towards peace, prosperity, wisdom, and harmony.
J. Nandakumar, Samyojak of Prajna Pravah, said that we should be able to convey realistic narratives to the whole world. We could do this through the G20. We must move forward. When we distributed the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire world, we pronounced, ‘OM, Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah: Sarve Santu Niramaya’, which means, “Let all be healthy.” We may have to face intellectual nuclear bombs. We must be strong enough to counter these bombs with their enormous impact. We need clear-cut planning for this. We must stop, oppose, and demolish anti-Bharat activities. Social awareness must be created among individuals. We must strive hard for social equality. We must work diligently to spread Sanatana Dharma, the positive Bharatiya culture, across the world. We will ultimately win this battle of narratives.
Nandakumar said that our goal is as clear as the Dhruva star. We must increase the number of nationalists. Anti-national propagandists make their voices heard loudly—not because they are numerically strong, but because those who believe in virtues remain silent. The number of virtuous people must rise. There is uniformity in the language of anti-national forces. They demoralise and destabilise society. They create crises to accelerate their agenda of destabilisation. Once upon a time, they declared that temples should be razed to the ground and the land used for tapioca cultivation. Their intent was to undermine faith in temples. In this way, they empty minds of values. These empty minds then become breeding grounds for suicidal tendencies and drug addiction.
The alarming rise in drug addiction is the result of breaking idols. The people behind this attempt to normalise it. They claim it is a usual phenomenon. We must exercise extreme caution. We are in the midst of a war. We must fight this war of narratives. They are trying to dismantle the very concept of family.
BJP National Spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Maha Kumbh Mela was a symbol of unity. Sixty-six crore people participated in the holy snan, transcending caste, class, and language divisions. The unity of Sanatana Dharma was evident there. Adi Shankaracharya established mutts in four corners of the country, and that unity still exists. Two crore rupees were spent in various sectors related to Kumbh Mela. Participants came from 76 countries, raising India’s prestige. Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, and Mallikarjun Kharge engaged in mudslinging. But do they dare to criticise the congregations in Mecca and Medina?
Poonawalla added that when the British arrived, 25% of the world’s GDP belonged to Bharat. By the time they left, it had dropped to 4%! Those who criticise the Kumbh Mela are the same forces that wish to reduce the country to ruins. Since Modi came to power, licences of 26,000 NGOs have been cancelled. That is why they are angry. Crores of dollars from the US were spent on anti-national propaganda. They follow the divide and rule policy of the British. We do not need anyone to teach us how to vote. We know where the money went. Due to the change of regime in the US, they cannot create much trouble in Parliament this time.
K.C. Narendran chaired the event, which was attended by RSS Dakshina Kerala Pranth Sanghchalak Prof. M.S. Rameshan and Kshethra Prachar Pramukh J. Sreeram.
