SPEECH

'Saffronization of Education will be Resisted'
Speech of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on 16th August, 2001

Secularism is the bedrock of our nationhood. Our nationhood is the composite outcome of five thousand years of the mingling of virtually every major religion and spiritual tradition that has inspired humankind. It is this continuing synthesis which has imparted to our civilization its unique character. It is this coming together of thought and experience which has made our nationhood a continuing celebration of diversity.

The National Policy on Education, adopted by Parliament in 1986, states in paragraph 8.5 : "In our culturally plural society, education should foster universal and eternal values, oriented towards the unity and integration of our people."

It goes on to say : "Such value education should help eliminate obscurantism and religious fanaticism."

As the 1986 National Policy constitutes the nationally-approved framework of education, sanctified by the endorsement of this the highest forum of our constitutional democracy, Parliament of India, it is only with the consent of this Parliament that any change can be brought about in the noble and fundamental objectives of the National Policy.

The 1986 National Policy was reviewed by the 10th Lok Sabha in 1992. Some amendments were carried out in some paragraphs of the 1986 NPE but these did not touch the core values set out in 1986, values which derive from our Constitution itself. This House needs no reminding that our Constitution commits us to a secular Republic. And notwithstanding attempts made to inject semantic confusion over the word "secularism", our jurisprudence has never had any difficulty in understanding the scope and significance of secularism in contemporary India.

When, therefore, we see attempts being made to trespass on core values of our secularism in the pursuit of a particular ideology, it behoves us as Member of Parliament to alert the nation to such transgression. We must prevent the perversion of policy to suit goals which may be the goals of a particular persuasion, but are not, cannot be, and will never become, the goals of the nation as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, an abortive effort was made to undermine the secular ethos of our education at the 1998 State Education Ministers Conference. The outcry over the agenda papers for that particular meet, stalled that initiative. The hon'ble Prime Minister reined in those Members of the Council of Ministers who had gone out of step. However, the vigilance has not since been maintained. This debate has been necessitated by continuing efforts, overt and covert, to divert value systems in education into channels that do not reflect the consensus of the nation on the nature of our nationhood.

The single most disturbing step is the attempt to launch a National Curriculum for School Education based on the perceptions and prejudices of a coterie of ideologues instead of the nation as a whole. The 1986 Policy took pride in the consensual process through which the NPE was evolved. The Central Advisory Board of Education was fully consulted in the matter and a National Development Council was convened on 29 April, 1986 to consider every aspect of every dimension of the draft Policy before it was placed in Parliament. Indeed, it was at this meeting that the Prime Minister of the day pronounced himself on a point which we today, 15 years later, are obliged to remind ourselves.

He said - and I quote : "We have to see that religious revivalism is not allowed to use our educational process as a tool for fundamentalism."

It is a matter of deep regret that religious revivalism appears to be the motive force for the secretive, and non-consensual approach which is being resorted to by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to push its so-called "National Curriculum". The Central Advisory Board on Education is being bypassed. The National Council on Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is being marginalised as an institution, a favoured few being drawn into the process, those with contrary views being ignored. State Education Ministers have not been convened. The Inter-State Council and the National Development Council have not been consulted. The contrast between the process of consultation adopted in 1986 and 1991-92 is singularly absent from the current exercise.

We demand that not till a broad spectrum of experts have been consulted and the states in their generality have given their consent can the Government contemplate any changes let alone the U-turns it appears to be considering with regard to the core values and National Curriculum for any level of education.

There are key references to secularism and national integration in the National Policy on Education which must be respected. They cannot be modified by executive action. Only Parliament has the right to do that. Till that happens - and I do not believe that can ever happen - Government must recognise that those references are essential to the Policy. They must be preserved, whether this be through the 1992 Plan of Action or any innovative steps this Government desires to take. As such, it is important that we recall what these references are.

It was declared in 1986 that : "All Educational programmes will be carried out in strict conformity with secular values."

It was further stated that : "Education has an acculturating role. It refines sensitivities and perceptions that contribute to national cohesion".

The 1992 Programme of Action reinforced these general directions by including as a "matter of foremost priority". "National integration and adherence to national values and concerns; observance of secular, scientific and moral values; inculcation of an understanding of our composite culture, with its rich diversity".

There is no escaping these national imperatives. We cannot and must not accommodate the ideological idiosyncrasies of a particular school of thought. Yet, we find repeated efforts being made to chip away at the secular basis of our education. There has been widespread concern that these efforts are being made with a specific intent, an intent which will push our education system towards obscurantism, irrational prejudices and bigotry. The House is aware of the assault mounted for ideological reasons on the Indian Council of Historical Research, the Indian History Congress, the Indian Philosophical Congress and the Archeological Survey of India.

Sir, to mix ideology with history text books and scientific facts is tantamount to playing with fire. In a country as diverse and complex as ours, such an approach is not only incorrect, but also fraught with dangerous consequences.

The House is also aware of the games being played with the NCERT and the UGC. The saffronizing of education at all levels, will be resisted by the Congress party and all secular forces represented in this House and outside.

Let me also remind the Government that in the field of education the one glaring omission is the pursuit of universal primary education and universal literacy. Time and again we have pledged ourselves to these goals. Instead of wasting precious time and resources by tinkering with the secular curriculum content, the Government would do well to apply its energies to pursue these vitally important goals. It has so far made no headway on the long pending Bill for making education a fundamental right.

Finally Sir, instead of being so obsessed with the past should we not focus more sharply on the future? It is a truism to say that our children are our richest future resources. We should, therefore, engage ourselves in an endeavour to see that the carriers and attitudes of our children are so shaped that they are at par with the best in the world, both in terms of technical skill and scientific temper.

Mr. Speaker Sir, We hope this debate will put the hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development on notice that he cannot substitute a "National Agenda" with "the hidden agenda". We also hope this debate will alert the hon'ble Prime Minister to need for continued vigilance to ensure that "his" party's agenda is not smuggled in through the backdoor under the mistaken belief that no one is watching because Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are watching and we will not let the Government get away with ideological sleights of hand.