‘Classrooms cannot shun religious values’
RSS leaders Dattatreya Hosabale and Manmohan Vaidya strongly defended their organisation from allegations that it was pushing for a saffron agenda in education and blamed the Left for distorting history.
“People aren’t happy with education, which should be based on national ethos. Our 5,000 years of achievement is not taught. We think all knowledge came from the British and teach disproved theories like the Aryan Invasion,” Hosabale said at the Jaipur Lit Festival here. They lauded the Rajasthan government for its work in revising textbooks, which have come under fire for inaccuracies and peddling gender and caste stereotypes. “Religious values cannot be kept out of the classroom.”
They attacked “Left liberals” for distorting education and history and said the word “secular” was un-Indian and not favoured by BR Ambedkar. “It was forcibly inserted in 1976 without demand, debate or discussion. The roots of this word are western where secular state was created in opposition to theocratic state. The Indian state has always been secular with no religious discrimination,” Vaidya said, speaking to a packed house.
The question of the upliftment of Mus- lims proved thorny. When asked to explain the poor socio-economic condition of Muslims as explained in the Sachar committee report, Hosabale said most Muslims lived in UP, Bihar and West Bengal, and the backwardness of the states hurt the community.
“We must also see if there is something in the community that hinders development,” he said again to loud applause. Minutes later, a man got up and blamed Muslims for wanting to remain backward. “No one can help them,” he said to more cheers and hooting. But the most fire was reserved for the Left, which was accused of painting the wrong history. “They have blocked people in media and academia. Many have boycotted JLF because we were coming. This is social and intellectual untouchability.”
Hosabale said the RSS had no influence on the BJP — including in ticket selection process for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. “The day gender, caste and other discrimination end in society, the RSS will also end. We aren’t an organisation, we are a movement,” he said.
HINDU ASPECT Dattatreya Hosabale and Manmohan Vaidya dismiss allegations of RSS pushing saffron agenda in education