Even though this is from across the border, the scarier part is, that I am not sure what the contents of our textbooks will be after the impending elections. Certain Indian political parties do not have a particularly good track record in this matter.
However the scariest part is how a 10 year old child is expected to visit police stations if he is to be promoted to the next class.
I mean, police station? REALLY?
Or am I missing something here?
16 comments:
this is from an independent citizen's inquiry into Gujarat (Kavita di was a aprt of this three-member team):
"The communalization of education in Gujarat is a well known fact now. Teesta Setalvad’s detailed analyses of the Gujarat State Board Social Studies Textbooks (SS)
highlighted, among others, the following aspects:
- Depiction of ancient Indian culture as Hindu culture (SS, Std.V)
- Muslims, Christians and Parsees categorized as “foreigners” in a section titled
“Problems of the Country and their Solutions” (SS, Std. IX)
- Silence on the role of the RSS in the murder of Gandhi (SS, Std VIII)
- A frighteningly uncritical account of Fascism and Nazism (SS, Std X)
- Glorification of Hitler for lending “dignity and prestige to the German government”
and “instilling the spirit of adventure in the common people” (SS, Std. X)11
As a logical extension of such communal and fascist indoctrination, the examination papers too listed the following questions, even as violence still raged through the riot-torn state:
- The English paper of the Gujarat Higher Secondary Board, in the section on transforming sentences, asked Class XII examinees to remove the “if”” from the following sentence: “If you do not like people, kill them.”
- The same paper also asked them to join five sentences like these into one: “There are two solutions, one of them is Nazi solution. If you do not like people, kill them, segregate them. The strut up and down. Proclaim that you are the salt of the earth.
- Examination papers of Classes V and VI also listed a question that read “What is the basic difference between miyans12 and Others?”"
sobbaike naga sadhu diye payu dhorshon korano uchit. byom bhole!
Insiya I would like to see this paper. Is it somewhere on the net?
@ Bimbo: It is scary. But I have a sneaky feeling they will not come to the government. I am pretty positive in fact.
very scary indeed...both the post and insiya's comment...
Pakistans will have an army and we'll have a bunch of bald headed men in loin cloth advocating peace. I really don't mind the brain-washing. In fact, I think its essential - like standing up before watching a movie to salute our national anthem which should instill a sense of national pride in all indians.
I personally think that we're so worried about Pakistan that we're not looking out for our slit-eyed yellow skinned brothers who probably have intentions of taking the skin of our backs and enslaving us all!
@insiya - I would really like to read that paper.
@suddha - heh.
@saptarshi - Well. I have a bad feeling that they just might. (although they have taken something of a beating with the entire varun gandhi fiasco recently).Let's just say that I hope I am proved wrong.
@mojo - yeah.
@ sphinx -
Pakistans will have an army and we'll have a bunch of bald headed men in loin cloth advocating peace
Exactly. And I don't like either of the options. Also, though ONE loin cloth man certainly advocated peace all his life, the contemporary loin clothed men generally don't. Or, they advocate peace for any ONE community, which, really, is not peace at all.
I am ready to get up and salute my national flag at movies. And of course I am proud of my country. But I CAN proclaim my country's/community's greatness without painting the other communities/countries in a bad light.
I really don't mind the brain-washing.
Well. I do. Very much. Any kind of brain washing. On any side of the border. Though saluting your national flag can hardly be termed such.
And just because I have expressed my worries about one of the neighbours, it doesn't mean I am not worried about the other ones. :)
This is disturbing... just a couple of questions and comments...
is this an official or academic research??? if yes, is there any way to read it or get hold of a copy? online i meant.
secondly...i am quite sure if a similar research was conducted in a madrasa school or a rural part of India,the results would have been much similar.
this communal tug of war is every where. And frankly speaking I cant blame any one person or any one religious group right now.
Its horrifying to see how the young minds are crafted.
"I am ready to get up and salute my national flag at movies. And of course I am proud of my country. But I CAN proclaim my country's/community's greatness without painting the other communities/countries in a bad light."
exactly. That is my point too. I am atheist you know that. But still I wonder that why a person is tagged as a Chaddi, or VHS or similar things when he takes pride in being a hindu? I mean theres no harm in it. its democracy, we all are free to take up any faith.
@madhurima - see, madrasas are different. because there you KNOW that the main thrust of your education is your religion. but this is, as far as i remember, the prescribed syllabus of the central education board of the neighbouring country. akin to, say, the CBSE here.
however, on the flip side, you might argue that the country is by definition an islamic nation, i.e. the main foundation of the country is a religion and therefore, religion is bound to seep into the school curriculum.
if i simply say that i am a proud hindu, i am SURE no one will tag me a chaddi or a VHS activist or whatever. however, in my pride, if i belittle other communities, then the name calling might justifiably start.
having said that, i myself have a little problem with overt public displays of one's religion. for me, religion is a very private thing which gets murky the moment you let it out of the four walls of your house.
whereas if a person scorn his own religion he is called a leftist and a man of modern sensibilities.
Its all too political. If India a "secular" land why does it need to have special religious institution like Madrasa?? whe dont have tols (brahmins conducted) anymore, where only brahmins get their educations.
Education should be equal under one roof. we dont have any religious bias in our curriculum, of course I am talking about our madhyamik, h.s, isc, icsc etc etc.
Basically these are very political, these are nothing but ways of grabbing votes... and blah blah blah. The very world "secular" is so vague in its execution.
@madhurima - any sort of OVERT political stance always has a brand attached to it. you can't crib about it. if it's something you have chosen, you have to learn to live with it. communism essentially shuns any kind of religion, and therefore, when YOU do the same, people make the easiest connection. it may not be true, but it is there. so you might as well accept it. again, i emphasize on the OVERT ness of it all. religion is something which comes way down in my priority list. i go through certain motions during certain festivals, and that's it. religion, to me, is more of a cultural thing. it's not something i think about actively often. if YOU do, and if you believe strongly enough to take an active stand in this, i.e. not participating in any religious festivities at all because you are an atheist, then you have to live with the consequences, na?
regarding the schools, well, they operate on a demand and supply basis. madrasas work because there is still demand for them. they have thousands of students all over the country. whereas, the tols which exist ( and there do exist some in places like Benares) are in pitiable condition because no one comes. therefore, tols have almost been wiped out, and madrasas haven't. simple economic logic.
@ madhurima - we dont have any religious bias in our curriculum, of course I am talking about our madhyamik, h.s, isc, icsc etc etc.
Well. We did. During the rule of a certain political party, Indian history was slowly being transformed to fit a more Hindu notion of the ideal state. As Insiya's comments above will prove. Thankfully, this stopped when power changed hands 5 years back. But if we have a change of power at the national level again, it might as well come back. And that's something I am deeply worried about. As my post will tell you.
exactly... the religious aspects of festivals are hardly my concern when i participate in one of them. I participate purely I enjoy the festivals.
Thats exactly my point... I personally feel tols ba madrasas should be closed.. education should be same for all of us.
"f i simply say that i am a proud hindu, i am SURE no one will tag me a chaddi or a VHS activist or whatever. however, in my pride, if i belittle other communities, then the name calling might justifiably start."
Amar madrasa and tol dutotei problem. kono religious based education system e thaka uchit na. I am talking about India, Not Pakistan. But closing them will not solve problems, there must be compensations for that.. ie. more schools and proper unbiased curriculum system.
Taking pride and belittling the other do not come in together.
But in most of the cases this does not happen. and there lies the problem.
"....ducation board of the neighbouring country. akin to, say, the CBSE here." I did not know that. CBSE???? My god. thats terrible.
"ndian history was slowly being transformed to fit a more Hindu notion of the ideal state. As Insiya's comments above will prove."
Yes I know of this. Trust me it wont be pleasant if this gets repeated.
"communism essentially shuns any kind of religion..."
This was the concept initially. But today, Left government has allies like "jamaiti hind..oir something like this, which is clearly a biased party and another keralite party (i dont remember the name) whose chair person was accused and then acquited for KoimbatoreBlast.
I mean I really dont know exactly what to expect anymore...its a sham.
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