Hindutva Loaded Curriculum To Saffronise Student Mindset

In the Indian sub-continent education was mainly oriented on vedic religion with its mythical texts, scriptures, puranas and the like. Education was not wide spread, wherein everyone did not have the opportunity to learn, but was kept as the monopoly of ‘supreme’ brahminical coterie in the four fold division of Varnasrama dharma. Such supremacy of one sect, excluding the remaining was made to be believed as the dictum of ‘almighty’ god. So for the major sections of the society, education was an inaccessible subject that was not at all connected to them. Those toiling masses, some of whom tried to get educated were strictured with severe punishment for which legal codes were framed.

- V. Kumaresan

The severity in the denial of education that prevailed in this ‘holy’ land for many centuries to the extent of maintaining the divine ordain of god by distancing themselves from the education environment can be gauged from sayings like: ‘Manu Smriti’ says, “if the sudras (toiling people) who remain in the audible distance of Mantra chanting, and happen to listen to it, then the punishment to such violation of code was that molten lead will be poured into the ears of such listener – sudras”.

If remaining and listening to the chanting of vedic mantras itself was a crime as per vedic religious code, where is the question of joining the stream to get educated? Discriminating and distancing the discriminated people from some vital and righteous needs was the inner core on which vedic religious structure was built up, enabling the miniscule brahminical minority to sustain their supremacy over the rest in the society. This sort of societal set up prevailed in this land where denial of education to major sections prevailed as divine dictum.

The story of Ekalaiva of the hunter tribe is only too well known to be repeated here. Spurned by Dronacharya, the best teacher of the days, Ekalaiva put a clay figure of Drona in front of him, started learning archery and attained perfection in the art. When the Acharya came to know of it, he demanded guru dakshina from the hunter youth, claiming that it was his figure which taught him the art. The guru asked for the right thumb of the young man, who gave it to him with all reverence, though Drona himself had played no part in his learning. A wily and scheming Brahmin acharya succeeded in making the education useless to the learner.