President of Patriots Forum, D.C. Nath was superannuated in January, 1995, as the Special Director, Intelligence Bureau, D.C. Nath (IPS-1960) was associated with the International Institute of Security and Safety Management (IISSM), headquartered in New Delhi, for over 14 years, first as the Executive President & CEO and then as the President & Director General, between February, 1997 and March, 2011. The author of a highly acclaimed book, Intelligence Imperatives for India, Mr. Nath earned high plaudits from all around for two of his very significant presentations on: “Revisiting the Future of India” (2005, London) and “Lessons from India for the War On Terrorism” (2007, USA). He is the only one in the field, combining the experiences of a police officer with specialization in intelligence and strategic analysis and an industrial security expert par excellence. More Bio on D. C. Nath…
November 25, 2014
Dear Friends,
Subject: Sanskritisation versus Saffronisation?
Ever since the RSS-backed BJP government has come to power in the Centre, the erstwhile UPA leaders along with the left-oriented and highly vocal so-called “secularists” have been, in consort, raising the bogey of the new government going whole hog in saffronising the educational system in the country. Their fear of saffronisation had even made the second most important UPA leader having in the recent past gone to the extent of coining the term “saffron terror”, that he felt was more dangerous than any thing else.
While his ‘ignorance’ can be excused, the hype being made on the new government’s efforts to bring Sanskrit language/ education to India’s mainstream education system, much over due indeed, actually runs directly against the age-old, that is, time-tested and most trusted method of education that the Britishers had willfully destroyed to rule over the ‘natives’.
To average nationalist citizens like us, who do not indulge in self-flagellation and instead boastfully and robustly feel proud of our past and ancient heritage, Sanskrit is known to us as our original mother tongue. Indeed, it is not for nothing that the famous British historian had said “Sanskrit was the Mother of Europe’s all languages”, also.
As a matter of fact, all our shastras, when reduced from smriti (memory) to shruti (hearing) to written form were in Sanskrit. That this mother of all languages can be learnt and mastered without even formal schooling is illustrated by the fact that there are villages where Sanskrit is spoken by all. We are aware of five such villages in Madhya Pradesh. These are:
a) Jhiri (Madhya Pradesh)
b) Mohad (Madhya Pradesh)
c) Baghuwar (Madhya Pradesh)
d) Mattur or Muttoor (Karnataka).
e) Hosahalli (Karnataka).
We under given to understand more such Sanskrit-speaking villages exist in Rajasthan also.
Those opposing so-called Sanskritistation may perhaps look towards the West, whom they mostly and generally like to ape, as forming a better and more advanced form of civilisation.
In recent years, the University of Rome was reported to have undertaken measures to study how to improve the methodolgy of teaching of Sanskrit.
Some years back, Sanskrit prayers used to be chanted by the students at the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in their graduate and undergraduate degrees. This was the second time in the last seven years convocation ceremony has had the Sanskrit touch.
(The Asian Age June 11, 2005)
This is how another report goes:
Schools in Iowa have 10 minutes of meditation and Vedic recitals daily to help children counter stress. “Lots of students are enrolling for Sanskrit immersion courses, specially those who pratise yoga,” says swami Tyagananda. Simultaneously, American Sanskrit Institute founder Vyaas Houston uses a model of teaching Sanskrit, based on the model of patanjali’s yoga sutras.
(The Times of India, July 1, 2005)
Back to the country, scholars are now trying to master Sanskrit in order to be able to read or, rather taste, the sashtras in original.
It is also known that the Constituent Assembly debates had discussed this subject at length. The majority of the learned members wanted Sanskrit to be the “national language” with Hindi as the “official language”. The history of the nation, the Independent India, would have been substantially different had that been the case. Sanskrit could indeed be a factor for national integration also. Well, it is something like many ‘ifs’ in history.
Friends would perhaps be knowing that it has now been acknowledged that—thanks its phonetics—Sanskrit is considered the most suitable language for the computer.
With all these, one wonders why is there so much noise about gradually bringing back Sanskrit, that has been in more than own the mother tongue for all Indians, into the mainstream education policy of the country. Yes, English today is the international link language and Hindi is the official language and the mother tongue of every state or province must be learnt, that is, the medium of primary education must be the mother tongue. The bringing in of Sanskrit is being opposed not because that would put pressure on young minds (which would not be correct though) but that would amount to underhand operation to allegedly saffronising the overall system of education. Nothing could be further from the truth. Introducing or bringing back Sanskrit to our education system would only help Indians to know their country better and develop some legitimate pride in their past that many of us often feel shy to defend against absurd criticism that it is a dying language and is difficult to master.
The irony of the situation lies in the fact the present-day controversy arose from the fact that the HRD ministry had in a recent order jettisoned the optional study of German language in Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central government run schools) in favour of Sanskrit. Germany, perhaps the most literate country in Sanskrit, outside India since the days of Max Muller, did not like that and it seems it muscled its way in, forcing the government to backtrack. That has been rather unfortunate. A foreign country, however, friendly, cannot force us to shun our own language. That is our birth right. As a matter of fact, foreign scholars have visited and have been visiting India over the ages to learn Sanskrit for gathering enlightenment through the medium of Sanskrit.
Although the full facts as to why the Indian government had to change its position or publicly buckle down are not known to us, we feel our national pride has been hurt in the process. Well, diplomacy has its own place but maintaining good relationship at the cost of national pride and interest is no diplomacy at all. It is better to be accused by the ‘un-knowing’ scholars and ‘all-knowing’ Marxists for saffronising our educational system than to bow down to what appears to us an absurd demand, amounting to arrant nonsense, if we can put it that way without hurting any one’s ego.
We would like to conclude our submission with what our former President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam had told on Sanskrit in August this year while addressing a Gurukul Institute in Kurnool district, Tamilnadu:
“Though I am not an expert in Sanskrit, I have many friends who are proficient in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a beautiful language. It has enriched our society from time immemorial. Today many nations are trying to research Sanskrit writings which are there in our ancient scriptures. I understand that there is a wealth of knowledge available in Sanskrit which scientists and technologists are finding today.”
(Note: It is important to record here that our ‘Think Tank’ is an apolitical, a nationalist and non-communal outfit. We hold brief only for the nation.
Vandemataram,
Your sevak,
D.C. Nath
(Former Spl. Director, IB)
(President, Patriots’ Forum)
9811995693
Forwarded:
1. HRD Minister
2. HRD Secretary
For favour of information and action as deemed appropriate.
D.C. Nath
Source: Patriot Forum
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