Edit: Sanskrit’s revival

On the face of it the Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh (SSS), a teachers’ association, seems to have taken up a noble cause of reviving an ancient language. It has even adopted the legal route — approached the court — that prompted the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry to drop German from the curriculum of Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools. The ministry is now inspired to take off all foreign languages taught as third language to promote modern Indian languages in schools across the country, including the private institutions. It is a curious thing how three years ago German made its way into KV schools when the constitutionally approved three-language education policy talks about promoting one Indian language alongside English and Hindi.

However, the emphasis on making Sanskrit mandatory in schools gives rise to a familiar fear — the saffronisation of education. The manner in which RSS-outfits like Sanskrit Bharati are promoting the language — drawing from a book called Science in Sanskrit to bolster their claims of scientific breakthroughs in ancient India — evokes apprehension that dogma might replace scientific temper in shaping young minds. The Vedas and the epics are great repositories of wisdom, but to credit them for the inventions and innovations of the modern world is to negate the progress of mankind, and shut out ‘foreign influences’ in science and technology. Test tube baby, ships, aeroplanes, plastic surgery are imports from the West in the last few centuries, but they have impacted the lives of people across the globe as we increasingly move towards a more integrated world. To say that “only 5% of the Sanskrit literature is about Vedas and other literature and the rest is all about physics, chemistry, astrology, astronomy and yoga” is to counter opposition from rationalists. These fears are further augmented when the newly appointed Indian Council of Historical Research chairman Y Sudershan Rao underscores the importance of Hindu values and mythology as the basis of understanding the ancient world. There seems to be little space for research and evidence that are at odds with his stated position.
It appears that the efforts to popularise Sanskrit in myriad ways goes way beyond showcasing India’s rich heritage. There is a concerted drive to  use the language as a vehicle to propagate Hindu religion in a country where secularism is regarded as the cornerstone of democracy — a founding principle as enshrined in the Constitution of India. When SSS President DK Jha tries to package a language as the means to earn fame and respect, he is attracting the youth with a bait. Jha’s appeal will have a far-reaching effect to include the parents who would be relieved to know that “anybody who studies Sanskrit never commits suicide”.
Jha and his comrades are part of a strategy that goes back to the previous NDA government when Murli Manohar Joshi was the HRD minister. In Joshi’s tenure too, saffronisation of education had received a major boost — evident in the attempts at rewriting Indian history in NCERT textbooks, which created quite a stir for the glaring errors and distortions.
Many of the voices that had protested against AB Vajpayee’s NDA government have fallen silent now fearing a backlash from the belligerent Right. But, dissent is the only weapon in these trying times to save education from falling into the wrong hands.