Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday warned schools that financial aid and other government support would be stopped if the mandatory singing of the full version of Vande Mataram during school prayers was not strictly followed.
Addressing the annual programme of Vivekananda Vidya Bharati Vikas Parishad, an RSS-affiliated organisation, at Ramakrishna Mission in Kolkata's Golpark, Adhikari alleged that the state's education system had been "brought to the brink of destruction" under successive governments in the past.
He said the current BJP dispensation was undertaking reforms to restore Indian culture, traditions and nationalist values in school education.
"A few people had objected to singing the complete rendition of Vande Mataram. I told them that government aid would stop. Then they budged, but only partially. They stood up, but did not move lips. Then I told them that lips must move as well," the CM said, sporting a smile.
Claiming that English-language education was curtailed during the Left Front regime while the TMC era had "distorted school curricula through appeasement politics", Adhikari said words such as 'maa', 'jal' and 'akash' in school curricula were deliberately replaced with 'amma', 'pani' and 'asmaan', respectively.
The "subtle changes", he claimed, stood in contrast to the pedagogic ideas of stalwarts like Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda.
Adhikari also accused the previous government of committing the "unforgivable crime" of banning the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in educational institutions.
"I met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently and made two requests: First, I urged him to build more Sainik Schools in the state, and second, I told him I will write to him seeking permission to make NCC mandatory in schools and colleges. I have already sent him that letter and received his assurance to do the needful," the CM said.
Adhikari's remarks came against the backdrop of continuing political disagreements in West Bengal over education policy, curriculum changes, teacher recruitment and the role of ideology in educational institutions.
"The people of West Bengal provide time when it comes to change and giving opportunities. They gave time to the Congress after Independence, gave sufficient opportunities to the subsequent United Front and Left Front governments, and for the last 15 years they had given time to the TMC," he said.
"But they also brought about the change in the state at the right time, else an Islamic education system of Bangladesh would have been replicated here," Adhikari said, referring to the state's political history.
He claimed that had the education policy followed during the last decade of TMC rule continued for some more time, "our values, our heritage, tradition, patriotism and nationalism were pushed to the brink of getting lost forever".
He said people had brought about political change in the state at the "right time", arguing that reforms were necessary to restore the education system and foster patriotism among young people.
Claiming that the school education system during the previous TMC era contributed to "creating divisions among children", the CM said, "Scholarships from classes 5-8 were made available only to Muslim students while the opportunity was denied to students of other communities."
He claimed that the syllabus referred to the removal of the Tata group from Singur but did not mention the contribution of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the formation of West Bengal.
"The name of former state minister Partha Chatterjee, an accused in school recruitment scam, was included, while the names of freedom fighters such as Khudiram Bose and Matangini Hazra were difficult to find in textbooks," he alleged.
Turning to the political debate surrounding the recent unrest at Jadavpur University and slogans relating to Kashmir and Palestine, the chief minister launched a scathing attack on the dissident voices within the institution.
"Bengal is the land of Netaji and Shyamaprasad. Swami Vivekananda was born in Kolkata. And on this land you will say 'Kashmir maange azaadi'! There are no rallies when Pahalgam happens, but during Operation Sindoor, you say, stop the war. Do we have to tolerate these things? You will write 'Free Palestine' on the walls of Jadavpur? Write 'Free PoK'. I will support it," he said.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
