ABC of psuedo-secularism

[Guest guest]

ABC of pseudo-secularism

 

A tribe of pseudo-secularists in India have arrogated to themselves

the right of expressing their views even in the textbooks for

children.

 

It does not bother their conscience if the subject of their writings

is history relating to events of national importance. They float on

intellectual pride on an assumed self-righteousness. They smugly

close their eyes on the monstrous lies perpetrated by sadist

elements among our erstwhile imperial rulers or the prejudiced

communal minds of past historians, whose overpowering desire was to

distort our legacy, denigrate our social norms and destroy our

national pride.

 

As part of the same tradition, some of our recent so-called

historians and over-rated intellectuals tried to repeat the myths in

our textbooks, which had the potential of poisoning the young minds

with wrong assertions and blurred interpretations of the otherwise

poignant episodes in our chequered history. The Romila Thapars,

Satish Chandras and their clan, refused to budge from their arrogant

versions and insisted on the correctness of their prescriptions as

an inscription on the wall. On wider inquiry and deeper scrutiny, it

could be found that they were misguided by superficial sources and

did not have any unimpeachable historical authority to rely upon.

 

Perhaps, they were too keen to appear liberal among the present

generation of Indians to ingratiate themselves to a class of people

inside and outside the country so inimical to us. It did not matter

to them that as `historians' it was their duty to correct the past

mistakes and to put things in the correct perspective. Their social

conceit stood in the way of taking remedial action which could have

easily been done without raising so much dust of controversy.

 

It is in this context that the NCERT had to remove certain portions

from the textbooks to clear the cobwebs of prejudice and ignorance.

One of the gems of Satish Chandra related to the martyrdom of Guru

Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, in 1675. He is a saintly

figure in the Sikh faith, who made the supreme sacrifice to save the

much-oppressed Hindu community from the bigotry of Aurangzeb. Many a

chronicle has been written about the inextinguishable thirst of the

Mughal ruler to forcibly convert Hindu droves. Even the tenth guru,

Guru Govind Singh, in his autobiography, Bachittar Natak, has

ascribed the execution of his holy father in Delhi's Chandni Chowk

to his noble effort to protect the frontal mark (tilak) and the

sacred thread (janeyu) of the Hindus.

 

And look at Satish Chandra's version in his history book on medieval

India for Class XI. According to him, after the return of the guru

from Assam, in association with one Hafiz Khan, he resorted to

plundering and raping, laying waste the whole province of Punjab.

And he attributes this to some unspecified Persian source. He adds

that according to Sikh tradition, the guru's execution was due to

intrigues of some members of his family.

 

Chandra mentions the cause of Aurangzeb's annoyance with the guru to

his act of converting a few Muslims to Sikhism! He does not say a

word about the countless conversions carried out by the fanatic

ruler. It is for the people of India to assess such historians, who

unwittingly or deliberately, impose their interpretations on the

masses.

 

According to Romila Thapar in her book (Class VI), for special

guests, beef was served as a mark of honour. According to Arjun Dev

and Indira Arjun Dev (Modern India, Class VIII), Jats founded their

state at Bharatpur from where they conducted plundering raids in the

regions around and participated in court intrigues in Delhi. Some

other diseased minds of the so-called historians have denied the

existence of Lord Rama at Ayodhya and Lord Krishna in Mathura around

2000 BC and 200 BC-300 AD respectively. These are not only attempts

to create confusion, but to strike at the roots of the Hindu

heritage.

 

Who are the protagonists of such theories to demolish the faith in

Hinduism? The communists — whose atheism takes them to the portals

of hatred for the Hindu way of life. They were against the freedom

of India from foreign rule. And when freedom came, the Communist

Party of India sent a delegation to Stalin of the Soviet Union to

help them in a coup against the government of India, as they

perceived the Hindu ethos as the single biggest bulwark against

communism in this country.

 

Everything that the NDA government does for the nation is dubbed as

an effort at `saffronisation'. And this effort may be aimed at only

removing the vestiges of falsehood in the history books for our

children.

 

It is paradoxical that even after the Supreme Court has dismissed a

petition filed by some misguided persons, the latter have dug their

heals in refusing to accept the verdict. Sonia Gandhi has gone on

record saying that her party would not accept the curriculum

developed by NCERT and the schools in states ruled by the Congress

would continue with the old curricula. That hits the nail on the

head of a party which has been claiming to be the conscience-keeper

of the nation and a tool for progressive change.

 

It was nothing short of blasphemy on the part of another Congress

boss, Salman Khurshid, who said on TV that Sita was not from India.

One wonders if there is a coordinated plan among the Congress

bigwigs to distort Hindu mythology and history. They seem to be

taking their `secularism' a bit too far, as they are trying to

trample over the Hindu tradition.

 

It would be best to let the Congress and their cohorts stew in their

own juice. With the verdict of the apex court, the ghost of

saffronisation has been laid to rest. A new dawn is beginning in the

horizon of school education. It would now be possible to give the

students an insight into multiculturism, social rights and human

values. A new initiative is in the offing to build scientific temper

among children. The anchor of education would be the philosophy of

Mahatma Gandhi and the thought of our national leaders.

 

One can only hope that the present Congress president would not

claim exclusive rights to the philosophy of the Mahatma. Her party

has done enough to denigrate what Hinduism stands for.

 

Recounting the Supreme Court verdict, `value education', based on

the good points of all religions, will contribute to the building of

a secular ethos. But the Congress thinks otherwise. They are calling

the verdict just a legal victory and not a real one. Their

convoluted minds view every good thing done by the NDA government as

furthering the `Hindutva' agenda, as if it were a hoodoo.

 

The coming elections are not going to take place on the Hindutva

plank. What the BJP believes in is to strengthen the nation's unity

on the basis of undivided loyalty to the nation, adherence to its

territorial integrity and the agreed economic reforms. But the

pseudo-secularists try to exploit even a tragic event to reap a

short-term advantage.

 

It would be pertinent to ask the Leftists to set their own house in

West Bengal in order, where the education policy is highly backward.

Let them rewrite their books full of jaundiced information on

India's past. Let them rectify their own blunders before upbraiding

the NDA government's efforts to rationalise education.

If the Congress and the Communists have the good of the nation at

heart, let them remove their blinkers and see the direction in which

the country wants to go. Let them eschew obscurantism and

megalomania and be humble to strengthen the nation's unity and well-

being.

 

The writer is a BJP MP

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_131488,00120001.htm