Recently, after learning about the
controversial textbooks from California, I became curious to know what
is being taught in Bharat. I picked Gujarat as a starting point. I read
standard 1 to 10 (Gujarati and English medium) social science textbooks.
I was shocked to see the absence of religious study; especially Hindu Dharma. In other words, it was not articulated properly. I found, Gujarati textbooks to be worse than the California textbooks as far as Hindu Dharma is concerned.
My first reaction was that; probably the education board is trying to
stay away from the potentially controversial religious matter behind the
name of so-called secularism. Which is understandable, however, it is
not true either!
After looking at the detailed coverage
of some other religions in the same textbooks, I am kind of lost and
wondering why the Hindu Dharma is left-out from the school curriculum.
Why the majority religion which is followed by 88% population of Gujarat
is left-out!
Why is it the case, that in the
birthplace of “Sanatana Dharma”, state school boards go out of their way
to control the information being published and spread, by suppressing
the history of the land? Is it not the national motto of Bharat:
“Satyameva Jayate”? Then why is the state engaged in spreading untruths,
and half-truths?
Bharat’s thousands of years of history
including pre-historic era as well as the Golden era are totally ignored
and the books literally start from 606 CE. Surprisingly, not much about
ancient Bharat and Bharat’s glorious time is covered (refer this Wikipedia link for an idea of the vastness of Bharat’s civilizational history).
Beside random references here and there,
religious study; especially of Hindu Dharma is very much untouched or
not articulated properly. The word “Rama” for God, is not used even
once! There was only one reference of Gita, three references of
Ramayana, and that also as simple words; without any elaboration. These
are the core of Hindu Dharma and Bharat at large for centuries. Some
explanations are a must.
Basically, Hindu Dharma is pretty much
ignored! No explanation of what is Hindu Dharma, its belief system, its
value systems! In short, students graduating from Gujarat would have no
formal understanding of what is religion in general, what is Hindu
Dharma etc. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same narrative
in other states as well. There are minute comments on the Vedas and
Upanishads, but largely ignoring the crux!
No references of Gita and Hindu Dharma
in Gandhi Ji and Swami Vivekananda’s topics. Both, Gandhiji and Swami
Vivekananda, had close connections to Gita and Hindu Dharma and were
even influenced by its teachings. But unfortunately, no reference is
made.
We all know that the Hindu Dharma,
Buddha Dharma, Jain Dharma, and Sikh Dharma have the same roots. This
type of explicit clarification would have been fair, complete and would
help to build a strong solidarity between these religions.
In other words, students in their prime
time of understanding would grow up without an important component of
the world; which is religion in general! Ironically, it is not true
either as I do see good coverage about “Buddhism” and “Jainism” in
standard 6. This is welcomed. I am happy to see at least something
about our 2 beloved religions!
However, I can’t find even two complete
sentences explaining what is Hindu Dharma, its core value, teachings and
belief systems! Nowhere from grades 1 to 10! The majority students who
are Hindus would grow without knowing their own heritage. Just like
Buddha Dharma and Jain Dharma, similar coverage should have been there
for the Hindu Dharma and other religions in order to be fair and for
completeness! That is what real secularism is all about! All or none!
Rest is pseudo-secularism. I wonder why the majority religion, Hindu
Dharma, is left out!
FEW EXAMPLES FROM THE GUJARAT TEXTBOOKS:
Look at the figure below. The textbook
is using the Western scholars to make us realize the significance of
Geeta, Ramayana and Mahabharata! It is kind of an insult to thousands of
year old Hindu scriptures. Hindus are teaching Geeta to the world and
not the other way around!
BUDDHISM FROM GUJARAT TEXTBOOK:
Nice explanation and teachings from
Buddha Dharma! These kinds of teachings from other religions such as
Hindu Dharma would have been fair in a secular country! Most
importantly, wondering what is wrong in saying Buddha was born in a
HINDU family? No harm there. It would simply help students in connecting
the dots. It would help to make a stronger Bharat.
Books certainly fail to do so.
JAINISM FROM GUJARATI TEXTBOOK:
Nice teachings from Jain Dharma! Happy
to see it. Similar teachings from Hindu Dharma would have been fair in
the secular country!
HINDU DHARMA FROM GUJARAT TEXTBOOKS:
Unfortunately, there is little to none.
IS THIS THE ONLY EXPLANATION OF HINDU DHARMA IN GUJARATI TEXTBOOKS?
This is the closest I found about Hindu
Dharma out of 10 books! Well, the book doesn’t even say it is about
Hindu Dharma. But, I safely assume so! “Hindu” and “Hindu Dharma” words
are not being used persistently throughout all books.
Really! The Vedas and Upanishads have no
ties with the Hindu Dharma? Are they not a part of the Hindu Dharma!?
If so, then what is wrong in using “HINDU” word with Vedas? Explaining
Vedas without Hindu Dharma is incomplete! It’s like introducing son
without using his father’s name.
For a while, I thought; “Hindu Dharma”
is being treated as “Bharat’s Culture” which is not consistent either as
“Buddhism” and “Jainism” are covered explicitly even though they are
part of “Bharat’s Culture”.
DIWALI AS PER GUJARATI TEXTBOOK!
Diwali is explained as “Festival of
Lights” in a standard 2 book. “The Festival of Lights” is a popular
phrase in Western countries for the past few years. “Victory of Good
over Evil” would send a stronger message! Most importantly, there should
not be any hesitation in saying Diwali is a HINDU festival or the
biggest HINDU festival. That’s the real truth. The book seems to be
shying away from using the word “HINDU”; in fact, very
persistently throughout all books! Contrarily, the book has no problems
using “Jainism”, “Buddhism”, and “Islam” words. It seems minor, but an
important concern.
GRATEFUL TO THE INVADERS!
Standard 7 books are asking us to be
grateful to the invaders because few artists got the opportunity to
showcase their art. In fact, while many artists got the opportunity to
showcase their talent, many of them were brutally killed also. Also, let
us not forget about the temples destroyed, the women raped and people
forcefully converted. No need to glorify invaders.
I do not see a similar praiseful language and appreciation for hundreds of old beautiful architectures and temples!
Word Counts:
The table below shows how many time important words were used.
Finally, I read some American textbooks to see what they teach about Hindu Dharma. And, this is what my first reaction was:
Even though American
textbooks have some controversial material, I felt prouder being a
Hindu and got more information about the Hindu Dharma after reading a
few chapters of American textbooks than reading Gujarati textbooks from
standards 1 to 10!
The American
textbooks emphasize more on the Hindu value system, Hindu belief system,
Maurya Empire, Golden era of Gupta, Ashoka, Bharat’s invention of zero,
Yoga, Karma, Dharma, decimal systems, numeral system, Pi, The Legacy of
Bharat’s Mathematics, Ayurvedic medicines, metallurgy, meditation,
benefits of Vegetarianism, Caste system, Mahatma Gandhi’s influence over
Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela etc.; Nothing about the
Mughals and British;
Whereas the school
books in Gujarat left-out Hindu Dharma and glorifies invader Mughals
who, in fact, carried out looting, atrocities, destruction, and mass
killings!
Let me make it crystal clear. It is not
my intention to denigrate Bharat’s textbooks and praise American books. I
am also not implying that Bharat should copy American books. American
books do have some (but less than Gujarati books) controversial
materials about Hindu Dharma and are already being challenged in the US
courts. But it is very shameful to see a horrible situation of the
majority religion in own land!
Little to no representation of Hindu
Dharma in 10 Gujarati textbooks cannot be a simple mistake.
Misrepresentation of Hindu Dharma and Bharat cannot be a mistake.
Suppressing history of the land couldn’t be a mere coincidence. Teaching
2 minority religions and ignoring Hindu Dharma cannot be a mere
coincidence! Not using “Rama” even for once and using Mughals” for 86
times cannot be a mistake.
Not saying Vedas are part of Hindu
Dharma cannot be author’s ignorance. Having 2 books on Yoga without
referencing a single “HINDU” word cannot be a simple negligence. Not
connecting Yoga with Hindu Dharma cannot be a mistake. The absence of
the words “Geeta”, “Ramayana”, “Mahabharata”, “Karma” throughout all
books cannot be a coincidence. Not saying Diwali is a Hindu’s festival
cannot be an innocent mistake.
Introducing Mahatma Gandhi ji, and Swami
Vivekananda without using a “Hindu” word or “Hindu Dharma” cannot be an
innocent error. Not using the “Iron-man” word for beloved Sardar Patel
cannot be forgotten matter. Connecting Ashoka with Buddha Dharma, but
not with Hindu Dharma cannot be a mistake. Not saying Buddha was born as
a Hindu cannot be historian’s ignorance!
Labelling Islamic architectural
structures as Islamic but not labelling Hindu architectures or temples
with the word Hindu cannot be secularism. Asking us to praise invaders
like the Mughals, cannot be a misunderstanding. Focusing more on the
horrible period of Mughals rather than a golden era of ancient Bharat
cannot be a mistake. Manipulating truth and hiding facts cannot be a
policy. Providing no-truth to half-truth cannot be a mistake.
One error can possibly be a mistake.
Even a few mistakes can possibly be mistaken too; however, persistent
mistakes with one theme cannot be mistaken! It is most likely a
deliberate and systematic effort! It seems to be a well-thought plan not
to teach Hindu Dharma and for that matter not to teach Buddha Dharma
and Jain Dharma correctly. The Author’s intentions seem to be to break
common links and close ties among these 3 religions.
The Author’s intentions seem to hide
greatness of Hindu Dharma. I smell an evil motive here. Keeping
students in dark or misguiding them is a serious crime. The book hurts
sentiments of the 1 billion+ Hindus across the globe.
WHAT CAN BE DONE NEXT? HERE ARE THE SUGGESTIONS:
The above discussion very clearly
indicates that Bharat’s social science books require major reforms; they
need to be re-written. Social science should articulate the historical
facts (nothing but the facts) in a way that the students become more
knowledgeable and feel proud of their religion, community, country,
heritage, and the world at large. Hiding or keeping them in the dark
from the facts of life does not make them good citizens. The school
curriculum should be designed to allow students to observe societies
dissimilar to their own in such a way as to broaden their understanding
of people and places in an increasingly interdependent world.
I understand religions are the most
controversial and sensitive subjects; however, while the world is
suffering because of extremist religious influences, people do spend a
good amount of their time in religious activities, and hence keeping
students ignorant about religion is not a good idea. Well, covering two
religions and not covering other religions makes this hypothesis wrong!
So, back to the important question; why is one religion i.e. Hindu
Dharma discriminated throughout the whole education system?
In the absence of a formal study in
schools, students would pick-up wrong and one-sided, biased religious
ideologies. They become vulnerable to be influenced by extremism. This
could potentially create hatred among people from different faiths!
Until we have an alternative way to
provide a value based and character building education system, the basic
religious study is essential. It is possible to teach religion without
favoring any particular faith! Different religions can be explained
without violating secularism.
Schools should provide the value-based
and neutral knowledge about religion in general. The Schools should
provide the high-level (basic) introduction to all major religions of
Bharat. Students should be aware of value systems, teachings, and belief
systems of different religions. Students should at least be exposed to
the factual components of different religions. It is better to stay
away from the imaginations, stories, fantasies, negativism, and
controversies. Emphasizing the common teachings and/or common links of
various religions could make students more open minded and tolerant!
For example, while explaining Jain Dharma, Buddha Dharma, or Sikh
Dharma, it would be worth mentioning the fact that they all originated
from the Hindu Dharma! It would help to create a strong bond between
these religions. The books have till now failed to do so.
As a concerned and a well-wisher Bharatiya, we are DEMANDING A FAIR REPRESENTATION OF HINDU DHARMA AND BHARAT IN GUJARAT SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS from the Gujarat State Govt.
We also have an online petition for public awareness and to get their support.
I request everyone to sign this petition
and undertake similar exercises to analyze and campaign for updation of
the school curriculum in their respective states.
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