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Gujral and allies did not protest 'Saraswati Vandana' when he was PM, says Joshi

Our Special Correspondent in New Delhi

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Dr Murli Manohar Joshi today pointed out that the Saraswati Vandana was played at a function attended by then prime minister I K Gujral on December 3, 1997. The minister was defending his decision to play the Saraswati Vandana yesterday when the conference of state education ministers and secretaries began. Dr Joshi was prevented from playing the hymn following strong protests from various states, including West Bengal.

"The Gujral government was supported by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Telugu Desam Party, both of whom opposed the move this time round," pointed out Dr Joshi, adding that the present protest was political. "The Saraswati Vandana is played at various functions, and it not a religious prejudice," he insisted.

Dr Joshi was speaking at a media meeting after the conference concluded today.

The minister said whatever agreements were reached had been done on the basis of a consensus. He also insisted that he was guided solely by the national agenda for governance, agreed upon by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the government.

He said the meeting had reached a consensus to take up primary education on a "mission mode" basis. "To achieve universal education, we need universal primary education first," he said. Moreover, towards achieving complete primary education, the help of voluntary organisations and the local communities would also be taken, he added.

While yesterday's session had witnessed much chaos and shouting, today was a sedate affair, though the delegates from Bihar continued to stay away. However, the Madhya Pradesh delegation, which walked out yesterday, was in their seats today.

Explaining his reasons for walking out yesterday, Madhya Pradesh Education Minister Rajkumar Patel, of the Congress party, said the Union government's move was against the spirit of Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution which gives minorities certain fundamental rights vis-a-vis education and educational institutes.

He insisted that the Vidya Bharati, an institution with alleged right wing links, which was involved in preparing the guidelines for education, should have no role in framing the education policy. "We are against the Vidya Bharati and its agenda which this government sought to promote," he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Punjab Higher Education Minister Manjit Singh Calcutta of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a party that is allied with the BJP at the Centre. "Our fundamental rights provide protection to minorities for their education and learning, and this must not be tampered with," he insisted, adding that no one had the right to suspect the fidelity or patriotism of any group of people.

"The plan to introduce spiritual education or Indianise other religions is ridiculous," said Calcutta, "It smacks of discrimination against some people."

Another topic that irked the various delegates was the plan, now dropped, to introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory subject. Patel pooh-poohed the idea of introducing Sanskrit. "Madhya Pradesh has Sanskrit colleges for those who are interested, so why make it compulsory in schools?" he asked.

Tripura Education Minister Anil Sarkar of the CPI-M said it implied nothing more than giving powers to brahmins once more. "Who knows Sanskrit today except a few brahmins? Sanskrit is the language of Hindu oppression, used to give powers to brahmins," he said, adding that the three-language policy must be adhered to.

His party colleague and West Bengal counterpart, Kanti Biswas, added that the last thing students today needed was an unnecessary subject. "The Jaiswal Committee on educational reforms had stated that the need of the hour was lighter school bags and more brain work. Introducing Sanskrit is doing just the opposite."

Sarkar pointed out that the Hindus are opposed to opening schools to create priests for temples regardless of caste. In fact, during the morning tea break, when Dr Joshi and Sarkar met, the latter mentioned this point, but the Union minister refused to be drawn into making any statements.

Sarkar also blasted the idea of playing the Saraswati Vandana. "Today they will play this tune, tomorrow they will insist on shouting the slogan 'One nation, one people, one culture'. The BJP is polluting the secular feeling," he said.

Calcutta said all national functions had a tradition of being secular and that is why the various state delegates had demanded that the national anthem be played. "It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who agreed to this suggestion," said Calcutta.

Added Biswas, "There was no plan to play the national anthem until we protested. And if they are so keen to play the religious Saraswati Vandana, then why not also have readings from the Koran and the Bible and play the Gurbani?"

Calcutta also flayed the BJP government for not following the national agenda for governance. "The present government is a coalition government, and the BJP must arrive at a consensus before it decides anything," said an angry Calcutta, adding, "We resent the 'big brother' attitude that the BJP has adopted towards the various coalition partners."

Patel, who was extremely vocal yesterday, said he was pleased that the contentious issues had been dropped and a consensus sought on various issues. But he was not too sure on the final result of the present meeting.

"The BJP with its controversial agenda has diverted the attention of the conference and no one knows what the outcome will be," he said, adding, "If the government had a better programme, then perhaps some tangible results would have been reached."

Biswas said such conferences are held time and again, but little progress has been made over the decades in implementing any of the decisions taken. "I don't know what is the purpose of such meetings when nothing comes out of it," he said.

A final note: at the media meet, Dr Joshi mentioned that the ministers conference had congratulated Dr Amartya Sen on winning the Nobel Prize for economics and would follow his advice to ensure universal education. But there was no mention of whether the next Budget would allocate six per cent of the GDP for education, something that east and southeast Asian nations did for decades and thereby achieve cent per cent literacy. Sadly, there was no mention of how the government would fund its plans to achieve universal primary education.

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