Saffron group behind the 'No German' row moves to next target: private schools

After persuading the government to prohibit the teaching of German in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools, the Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh (SSS) organisation that initially filed the petition against policy in the Delhi High Court, plans to extend the mandatory imposition of Sanskrit as a third language to other schools as well. The SSS, which is a body of Sanskrit teachers and scholars, had moved the Delhi High Court against the Kendriya Vidyalaya’s decision to teach German as a third language. If you look at the group’s website, they says that the association has “been striving hard for promotion, advocacy and protection of Sanskrit and securing the interest of Sanskrit teachers and students since September, 2009.” The group claims that previously they have ensured the inclusion of Sanskrit in Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET), Haryana Teachers Eligibility Test (HTET), Uttar Pradesh Teachers Eligibility Test (UPTET) etc. According to a report in the Indian Express the group’s president D K Jha told the Indian Express, “Our next step will be to ensure all other schools — government aided, unaided, public, private — also follow our education policy and three language formula, and drop foreign languages as the third language. They have to teach Sanskrit or any modern Indian language instead. They will hopefully do it on their own now." He added that if schools did not introduce Sanskrit, then the SSS would write to the PM and the HRD minister Smriti Irani and also go to court. [caption id=“attachment_1030393” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image of students. AFP[/caption] In their petition to the Delhi High Court, the group had argued, “The action of the respondents (KVS and CBSE) would cause irreparable damage to Sanskrit language and Indian culture and as a result, the next generation would not learn Sanskrit and hardly have any knowledge of Sanskrit and the rich ancient Indian culture.” They also said that the decision was “in violation of the various provisions of the Constitution of India as also violation of the various Supreme Court judgements.” The group was also miffed at the fact that Sanskrit teachers were to be given training in German and had said in the complaint that “foreign languages viz. German, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese language are being promoted at the cost of Sanskrit.” SSS has ambitious plans when it comes to implementing its Sanskrit as it wants the learning of the subject to be extended beyond schools and even into “courses like engineering, MBA, etc.” According to Jha, learning Sanskrit has many benefits, and he told the paper that those who learn the language “never commits suicide because of the values the subject inculcates in them.” He said while other languages intend to make money, Sanskrit teachers “people to earn fame and respect.” Jha also said that his group had protested to the government when “Navodaya Vidyalayas” offered Urdu instead of Sanskrit and had written to the HRD ministry against this practice. The SSS also has support from another Sanskrit organisation, the Sanskrit Bharati, which is run by Dinesh Kamath, an old RSS pracharak.  According to the Times of India Sanskrit Bharati wants to implement Sanskrit as third language in all CBSE schools till class XII. Kamath told TOI, “How can you be Indian without knowing Sanskrit?” He also discussed about a book that the group has published called ‘Science in Sanskrit.’ Essentially it reads similar to Dinanath Batra’s books; like Batra’s books, the Sanskrit Bharati’s book talk about “test tube babies, ships, aeroplanes and plastic surgery among other things in ancient India.” However Kamath chose not to comment on “PM Narendra Modi’s statement that Ganesha’s elephant-head was a surgical feat”, notes the report. Kamath meanwhile isn’t just for Sanskrit, he’s for a purity of Indian languages and wants to get rid of all the Persian and Urdu words. ‘Shuddh Hindi’ is an agenda that has been forwarded by many RSS-groups. Kamath told TOI that he is unhappy that “words like darwaza (door) and akhbaar (newspaper)” are used in daily context. The RSS-pracharak also said that, “A stereotype has been created about Sanskrit, of being inaccessible, tough and religious. Only five per cent of Sanskrit literature is about Vedas and other texts. Rest is all about physics, chemistry, astrology, astronomy and yoga. Sanskrit is a treasure of knowledge.” Where the whole Sanskrit vs German controversy is concerned, Firstpost Editor-in-chief R Jagannathan had pointed out in this article ,that while Irani was indeed right in getting German off the table since it violates the National Education Policy,( the three language policy calls for Hindi, English and the regional language of the state or a modern Indian language to be taught), Sanskrit can’t be forced on students. He wrote, “Sanskrit cannot be popularised by shoving it down people’s throats for the simple reason that people choose languages partly for their utility in the job market, and Sanskrit currently does not have that utility.” Also as Firstpost Editor G Pramod Kumar noted in this piece , even if one were to go by the three-language policy, why only “choose Sanskrit and why not Tamil or Telugu.” He wrote, “The three language policy itself is flawed. Why should children in non-Hindi states compulsorily learn Hindi? This has been a question that politicians and people in states such as Tamil Nadu have been asking. Let learning languages be voluntary.” Third language controversy aside, the fact is that both the SSS and Sanskrit Bharati aren’t just pushing for Sanskrit-learning, they are pushing for language ‘purity,’ and of a specifically saffron hue.