Detoxification and other Policies Of The New Govt

01-12-2006, 12:59 AM

tirades against endogamy is just that.

01-12-2006, 01:15 AM

QUOTESpeaking to media persons, HRD Minister Arjun Singh said "It hurt the
setiments of the Minority community as well as Seculars Think tank.
He further quoted that " In the last Election the BJP used it as a Poll
Plank against Sonia Gandhi and her Family Members in Abroad and
now the Shiv Sena is using the same song against Sunjay Nirupam,
Narayan Rane and 3 other Former Shiv Sena MLA's.

[right][snapback]44615[/snapback][/right]

Are these guys high on something? Nirupam and Rane both were in Shiv Sena/ BJP when they used the song during last LS elections. They lost.
Then they crossed over to Congress and songs were used against them? And they won!!! That is Rane even beat the Sena guy to an extent the Sena almost lost his deposit. So isn't the song good for them?

What next, ban national anthem because Laloo and Rabri sat twiddling their thumbs when national anthem was played (violation of law?) and they lost in Bihar?

Believe this Arjun's tenure in RS is about to get done - anyone knows as to when? The guys clearly loosing it in at his age.

01-12-2006, 01:22 AM

Last year news quote
QUOTEWith his Rajya Sabha membership due to end early next year, he is keen on earning further political capital by being seen as a messiah of Muslims so he can be re-nominated for another six years. However, a section of the Congress party wants him (and a few others it considers well past their 'sell by' date) to retire.

His term will end this year.

01-19-2006, 10:18 PM

QUOTEUPA as Muslim League
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.p...&pid=114&page=6

The UPA often reminds us of the Muslim League of the pre-Independent India. And Arjun Singh of the despicable communalist Maulana Mohammad Ali. The only difference is that the Muslim League then did not enjoy absolute power. It rather existed on British patronage.

But the UPA is different in that sense. It is not accidental that the Muslim League, which Jawaharlal Nehru once characterized as dead horse, is sitting in the central cabinet for the first time in Independent India. League as such has only one member in the Lok Sabha but, it is practically running the foreign office.

The policies of the UPA give the impression that it is working to make true the recent assertion of the Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed that three more Pakistans would be created in India. Otherwise, how does one explain the UPA's latest move over-riding objections by the Union Law Ministry to introduce a system of allocating funds for key social sector programmes on communal lines?

Every attempt of the UPA to communalise the polity met with judicial reproach. Twice the Allahabad High Court, the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court have struck down the policy of reservation on communal lines. The apex court had cautioned the central government to work for the creation of an egalitarian society and not to play caste, communal politics in the name of disbursing social justice.

The UPA's latest step is to look at the communal profile of the beneficiaries depending on their numerical strength and to reserve 18.4 per cent of the total central spending for religious minorities. Thus the UPA plans to fracture the population in every state on religious lines as mutually suspicious, antagonistic and competing groupings quarreling for share of the meagre allocation.

The Law Ministry reportedly warned the government that this patent bias in central policy is violative of Article 14 and negates the spirit of Article 38 of the Constitution. The UPA is also pushing for a separate plan allocation for minority communities. These are over and above the other outrageous actions of this government in pandering to minorityism.

Clearly, the UPA is bent on cynically undermining the Constitution and the secular fabric of the country. By encouraging Muslim, Christian communalism and dividing the polity on religious and caste lines the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is obviously hoping to create a conducive atmosphere for her evangelical mission and balkanisation of India. No word of condemnation is sufficient to emphasise the damage this foreigner by her proxy regime is inflicting on this ancient nation and its tolerant tradition. Arjun Singh is acting only as her vicar apostolic.

Power for family

The UPA's other mission is to empower the family. No other regime in recent democratic history has done so much to perpetuate and insulate a family from the law of the land. Take the latest instance of the central plea before the British crown prosecution service that there is no evidence directly linking Mr Ottavio Quattrocchi to the Bofors payoffs. The government has no plans to appeal against the Delhi High Court order, which had earlier let off the Hindujas in the case. The present move is meant also to defreeze Quattrocchi's two accounts in London.

It has become obvious that Quattrocchi is someone very special for the Congress and its leader. This is baffling, for there is a charge-sheet pending against him in India.

This is not an isolated instance of absolving family members and retainers of the family, after the UPA assumed office. The first act as mentioned earlier was to clear the family's name from the Bofors scandal with the CBI stating lack of evidence in the court, leading to the dismissal of the case. Then came the exoneration of V. George in disproportionate wealth accumulation and Income Tax case. This was followed by the clean chit given to former Petroleum Minister Satish Sharma. Even people loyal to the Congress first family like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mayawati, Rabri Devi and Shibu Soren benefited from this doctoring the course of the law.

The Janata Dal(U) leader George Fernandes and Dr Subramanian Swamy had filed a number of well-documented charges on false affidavits exposing the Congress leader. Though on the face of it the allegations were sound there was no further investigation to these charges and they were summarily rejected by the court. The same alacrity was in display in dealing with the recent Volcker report and Mitrokhin Archives findings concerning the evidences against the family.

Recently we heard a lot of dissertations on probity in public life from the UPA benches. But it seems some persons in the Congress are more than equal before the law. They always manage an easy escape route with full and indulgent facilitation by the pliable government.

Bhootnath · 01-20-2006, 02:20 AM

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/19/stories/...791200.htm

Concern over personalised attack against Brinda Karat

Special Correspondent

Over 150 scholars, academicians, and social activists sign statement supporting her

NEW DELHI: Over 150 scholars, academicians, artists, health practitioners and social activists on Wednesday came out in support of Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat in her ongoing war of words with yoga guru Ramdev over labour rights and presence of human remains in Ayurvedic preparations made by his Divya Yog Pharmacy (Haridwar).

Expressing serious concern over the "wild allegations and hate campaign being mounted" by Baba Ramdev against Ms. Karat, the signatories to the statement noted that his ire and that of "obscurantist forces that have rallied around him" has been directed against her for raising the issue of the pharmacy violating both labour laws and legal provisions regarding labelling and licensing of drugs.
...........................
...........................

Among those who have put their signatures to the statement are Jean Dreze, Armaity Desai, Prabhat Patnaik, C.P. Chandrasekhar, Githa Hariharan, Uma Chakravarty, Tanika Sarkar, Zoya Hassan, Utsa Patnaik, Molayashri Hashmi, Subhashini Ali, Indira Jaising and Sohail Hashmi.

SAME OLD SCUM BAGS

01-20-2006, 02:50 AM

Gee that's really strange. Brinda started this issue and got a carrot halwa made out of her position and now she's the victim!! And has Brinda investigated say Shenaz herbal products or would it be communal to do that?

And BTW, what's up with these signatories? I seriously think there's a group of individuals and organizations who's sole business is to lend their name/credentials to any anti-Hindu cause... they sign petitions, led peace yatras to jihadi dens, organize marxists/naxal rallies, fly to CA to speak againsts what kids should/not learn.

ramana · 02-03-2006, 02:21 AM

Dont know if this is the right thread but here goes.....

Link: NCERT withdraws 4 books, rewrites portions on Sikh ifgures

QUOTENCERT withdraws 4 books, rewrites portions on Sikh figures
New Delhi: Four NCERT textbooks containing ''objectionable'' matter on prominent Sikh figures Guru Nanak, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Banda Bahadur were being rewritten and fours others have been withdrawn after objections from scholars of minority comunities.

The NCERT took the decision on a recommendation of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), after receiving the objections from the scholars, the Commission said here today, adding that the information was conveyed to it on January 31.

The NCERT consulted authors before deciding for making changes in the books, it said.

Portions relating to the three Sikh figures being rewritten are found in 'Social Sciences' written by Prof Romila Thapar for class seven, 'Social Sciences'(Part 1) by Prof Arjun Dev and Indira Arjun Dev for Class eight, 'Modern India by Prof Bipin Chandra for Class 12 and Contemporary World History (Part 11) by Prof Arjun Dev for Class 12.

The Commission said the NCERT had also amended some controversial portions about Jainism and Vardharman Mahavira in the book 'Ancient India,' written by Prof R S Sharma' for class 11.

The withdrawn books are 'Indian and the World' written by Seema Yadav for class seven, Contemporary India' by Hari Om for Class nine, Modern India by Satish Chandra Mittla for Class 12 and Medieval India by Prof Satish Chandar for Classs 11, the Commission said.

The objectionable portions in the textbooks were discussed in a meeting with NCERT academicians which was presided over NCM chairman Tarlochan Singh at the Commission office here.

The NCERT have also agreed to include the names of Bhai Vir Singh, Nanak Singh and Amrita Pritam, all eminent Punjabi Litterateurs in the list of modern writers in the textbook 'Contemporaray World History'(Part11) by Prof Arjun Dev for Class 12.


Looks like books written the infamous historians are being withdrawn and rewritten. Maybe votebank politics is in effect.

02-03-2006, 04:05 AM

Only minorities related topics will be changed but majority bashing will continue.

04-07-2006, 11:34 PM

Indian Governments Hard on Hindus, Their Temples, Soft on All Others
QUOTEBy Yatindra Bhatnagar
Everything against Hindus seems to be justified in India, a country dominated by 82 percent Hindus. There are no such things as Hindu rights, safety of Hindu temples and their money, Hindu pilgrimages and the Hindu way of life. Instead, every effort is made to favor, appease, fund and tolerate others, especially Muslims who are doubly benefited by the secular policies of the Government of India, and states ruled by the Congress Party and its coalition partners. Their Sharia laws give them an added advantage.

Muslims get money from Hindu temple funds and are also allowed to practice their own Sharia (Islamic) laws for marriage, divorce, family inheritance and other customs. Civil laws are not uniformly applied to Muslims and their rights, real or imaginary, traditional or just made up, are generously safeguarded. They are permitted practices even if some of them are in direct conflict with Indiaâs laws on divorce, maintenance money after divorce, and other social, religious and cultural practices.

Some time back International Opinion carried an article detailing the takeover of Hindu temples in Karnataka and transfer of large chunks of their funds to mosques, churches, Islamic schools (madarsas) that churn out radical Muslims, and Christian schools. The die-hard Christians merrily go on converting simple, less educated, tribals, socially and economically weaker sections of Hindu population all over India.

The Roman Catholic Pope, when he visited India last year, had bluntly told his audience in Hindu-dominated India that his mission is to convert people to Christianity (Roman Catholic version, of course). It was a slap on Hindus and should have been on the face of the Government of India that had invited him and that claims to be âsecular.â

A part of the Hindu money also goes to Christian Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), who utilize these funds for the spread of Christian religion, education, social and cultural practices. Evidently, Hindu money, Hindu temples, Hindu religion, Hindu rights, and Hindu population, everything is going down.

The Congress policy is to take over Hindu temples that are a big source of money from millions of devotees every year. That money is fully controlled by governments run by Congress Party, and its coalition partners. Hindu Temple Trusts, or traditional priests, no longer run those Temples. They are, instead, run by government-appointed Boards or Managing Committees consisting of bureaucrats from other communities also.

Thus a very large amount of Hindu money is going to government coffers and through them to others to the detriment of Hindus, and Hindu temples. That is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of religion, and partisan policies of the government at the Center and Congress-ruled states. This is wrong, and a violation of constitutional norms. This is blatantly unfair policy towards Hindus. And this is arbitrary, to say the least.

There has been no take over of mosques, churches or institutions run by Muslims and Christians. Only Hindu temples are targeted. Why is this discrimination and differential treatment? And the meek, tolerant, submissive Hindus donât raise a finger to protest it! And when they do, they are branded âcommunalistsâ by Muslims, leftists, and even some sections of so-called secular Hindus. How surprising!

This should be challenged in the highest court of the country, and other forums.
The new arbitrary development is about one of the most famous Hindu temples in Mumbai â Siddhivinayak. The Maharashtra government of Congress and its junior partner, Sharad Pawarâs Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have conveniently managed to take over Siddhivinayak Temple Trust that gets huge amount of money from Hindu devotees. These devotees include top movie stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai who regularly visit Siddhivinayak and offer big money and jewelry.Â

Siddhivinayak is a temple of Ganesh, the most popular deity in Maharashtra, and also many other parts of India. No traditional religious function is complete without first praying to Ganesh, the son of Shiva and Parvati.Â

My friend Devendra Singh has complained that the Congress and NCP have divided the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan and Siddhivinayak Temple Trust amongst themselves as if these Trusts are commodities to be used and exploited by the Government for its anti-Hindu and anti-national policies of minority appeasement.

He adds: âHindu Janjagruti Samiti (hindujagruti.org) appeals to all devotees of Lord Ganesh to avoid making donations to the Siddhivinayak Temple. Instead donations may be made in any local Ganesh Temple after paying obeisance to the Siddhivinayak idol.âÂ

This is only one way to protest the government action. But its doubtful if this will be effective as Hindus are, by and large, naÃ¯ve, indifferent, and oblivious to the far-reaching consequences of government policies. They have to be really jolted to awaken them.

The government is always looking to the other side when there is an issue of Muslim intransigence, incongruity, or even violation of established and acceptable norms of civilized behavior. Some time back in a Northern Indian town, a father-in-law was found to have physical relations with his daughter-in-law. Whether they were consensual or not is not valid here, but the fact was that the local Muslim religious leadership ruled that since the woman had relations with her father-in-law, she is now to be recognized as his wife, and consequently, the mother of her husband.

A more ludicrous ruling would be difficult to find. And all that was claimed to be in accordance with Islamic laws. Obviously, the government did not want to interfere in an Islamic matter. Itâs a mockery of the Indian Constitution, and denigration for the woman.

Islam and its followers are very strict in matters of conversion. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim. He or she can convert to other religions at the risk of their lives. A celebrated case was about the movie super star of yesteryears, Nargis, who was the first recipient of Padma Shri and had access to Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.Â

Nargis was born a Muslim to a Muslim lady, Jaddan Bai. There were all kinds of rumors about her father being a Hindu but that is not very relevant here. She married another movie star Sunil Dutt, a Hindu. It was well known that the marriage ceremony was performed with Hindu rites and rituals, and that Nargis lived like a Hindu, observing various practices of Hinduism.Â

When Nargis died, Dutt prepared to take the body for cremation and to perform Hindu rituals for the departed soul. It was reported that the brothers/cousins of Nargis, insisted that the body be taken to the Muslim burial ground and be buried with Islamic rituals and customs. Dutt, a gentleman that he was, did not want to create a scene, and quarrel before the dead body of his beloved wife. He allowed the body to be whisked away by the intolerant Muslim relatives. The Islamic intransigence prevailed upon Hindu tolerance.

Recently in Malaysia, the country supposed to be a moderate Muslim nation, a shocking case, somewhat similar to that of Nargis, was reported. A Hindu wifeâs complaint is that her husbandâs body was buried by claiming that he had converted to Islam. The man, a celebrated former Olympian, had died in coma, and Islamic courts ruled that he had converted. Some paperwork was produced by the local Mullah to bolster their claim. The manâs wife, his other relatives, and friends had no information about his alleged conversion, yet the body was snatched away from a Hindu wife.

Malaysian Hindus have taken up the case but it did not attract worldwide attention, as it is a case of an aggrieved Hindu, and not a Muslim or a Christian. The Hindus themselves have to raise their united voice louder, clearer, effectively and aggressively. They donât have to take up arms like radical Muslims, but can make their point known worldwide through relentless campaign for truth, justice, fairness, religious and social freedom - and no discrimination whatsoever. They should not take any injustice lying down, or they would continue to be trampled upon by this or that religion.Â

Yet another recent case has become a âcause celebreâ worldwide. But this one is related to a Muslim in Afghanistan facing death for converting to Christianity. Abdul Rahman had converted years back but when other people found that out, he was sentenced to death by an Islamic court â the only kind of court in that country. Radical Muslims and Islamic courts ruled that by abandoning his religion, Rahman had insulted Islam and deserved death penalty.Â

Rahmanâs case is being fought by public opinion, Christian groups, and even Christian governments, worldwide. Consequently he might be released. But, I will not be surprised if, without adequate security, and safe journey to a democratic, religion- tolerant country, he is killed after his release by the same radical Muslims. Muslim clerics keep clamoring for his death. This is Islam, the religion touted as compassionate, kind and tolerant.

This is happening in a country liberated by the US-led coalition from the hands of ultra radical Talibans who had shown no religious tolerance whatsoever. On the contrary, they had even blasted the world famous towering Buddha statues at Bamiyan. The statues were not converting, but only silently witnessing the atrocities on girls and women, other religions and opponents of Talibans. They were blasted in the name of Islam, and Allah.Â

That happened in Afghanistan under the Talibans. Rahmanâs case is under Hamid Karzaiâs government, a man put there by the Americans.Â

A thing like that could have happened in India too. Islamic laws would have issued death sentence. It would not have had the legal sanction of Indian courts but when it comes to Islamic Sharia laws, who cares? Fatwas, and radical Islamists could do the dirty work.Â

Recently India did have a weird case that should have shocked the people. According to a report by the main news agency, Press Trust of India, a Muslim in his sleep had uttered the word âTalaqâ three times. That was enough, and the local Mullahs accepted it as the manâs decision to divorce his wife. No amount of explanations would satisfy the local Muslim religions leaders and they asked the couple to split.

PTI reported that Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband Aftab had uttered the wordÂ âtalaqâ three times in his sleep. When local Islamic leaders came to know that, they said Aftabâs words constituted a divorce under the Islamic procedure known as âtriple talaq.â The West Bengal couple, married for 11 years, have three children.

The local Mullahs also ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry the mandatory waiting period is 100 days. Meantime, Sohela would have to spend at least one night with another man (deemed to be a marriage) and then be divorced by that other man before she can even think of remarrying her original man. What a religious decree! What kind of justice!

The news is that the couple has refused to obey the order and the issue has been referred to a local family counseling center. Unless this Mullahcracy ends, the couple is doomed.

The silver lining in the case is that Zafarul-Islam Khan, an Islamic scholar and editor of The Milli Gazette, a popular Muslim newspaper, has said: âThis is a totally unnecessary controversy and the local âcommunity leadersâ or whosoever has said it, are totally ignorant of Islamic law.â

âThe law clearly says any action under compulsion or in a state of intoxication has no effect. The case of someone uttering something while asleep falls under this category and will have no impact whatsoever,â Khan opined. Would the radical Mullahs listen?

Ultimately the case might be settled in Sohelaâs favor. However, the weird Islamic laws and their inhuman interpretation by Sharia courts and radical Muslim leaders, are clearly a gross violation of Indiaâs Constitution. Itâs also a blunt challenge to Indian justice system. All that is happening under the very nose of governments â state and Central. And nobody has the courage to do anything tangible, and settle these matters once and for all by enforcing uniform civil laws for all the citizens of India irrespective of their religious affiliation.

The need for a Uniform Civil Code is one of the Directive Principles under the Indian Constitution but no government has shown courage to prepare and enforce that. A really moderate Muslim, the then Chief Justice of Indiaâs Supreme Court, Justice Ahmadi, a few years back, had publicly asked the Central Government to implement the Directive Principle related to the Uniform Civil Code. But nothing has happened in all these years.Â

As long as appeasement of the so-called minority communities continues, and the rights of Hindus trampled upon, the country will keep seeing these types of unacceptable and weird behavior. The main culprits are Muslim Mullahs and the followers of Islam.

The Christian evangelical crowd is the other getting preferential treatment at the expense of Hindus and Hindu rights. This is strange in a country overwhelmingly dominated by Hindus whose tolerance has become their weakness for everyone to exploit.

By the way out of one billion plus of Indiaâs population, the Muslims constitute only about 12 percent. The Christians are even less, only 2.3 percent. The Sikhs are even lesser, only 1.9 percent. Out of the rest, over 82 percent are Hindus - mostly sleeping.Â

Wake up Hindus before you are crushed beyond recognition in your own country!

04-08-2006, 05:22 AM

Don't undermine statute: LKAdd to Clippings
[ Saturday, April 08, 2006 12:10:39 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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AHMEDABAD/BHUBANES-WAR: Any legislation proposed on the office of profit issue should not undermine the "rationale and logic" of the specific provisions of the Constitution, said leader of opposition L K Advani on the second day of his 'Bharat Suraksha Yatra' on Friday.

"There was a rationale and logic behind Articles 102 and 103 on the issue of office of profit. This should not be undermined," he told reporters when asked whether BJP would support any legislation brought forward by the government in this regard.

He trained his guns on the issue of illegal migrants, alleging that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre had failed to deal with illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh. He said the issue posed a major threat to the country's unity and integrity.

Advani alleged that the recent amendment in the Foreigners' Tribunal Order by the UPA government was another compromise on this controversial issue, especially when the Supreme Court has struck down the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act, 1985 (IMDT) as unconstitutional.

He accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of compromising on the illegal migrants' issue.

He said by amending the Foreigners' Tribunal Order and introducing into it the "nefarious provisions" of IMDT Act, the UPA government has provided legal protection to Bangladeshi infiltrators. Advani later left for Rajkot to commence his Bharat Surakshya Yatra.

In Bhubaneswar, BJP president looked relaxed even as the AC of his rath developed snags and the temperature hovered around 40 degree Celsius.

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<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='dry.gif' />

04-14-2006, 06:38 AM

QUOTEMaths optional for Sportsperson? 
New Delhi
A strong plea to make mathematics optional from Class IX onwards has been made by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to help school students who do well in sports. The Ministry, in a letter written to Education Ministry, has also suggested that the time spent by students on the playground be also taken into account in evaluation in order to partially offset their poor marks in mathematics. 

When illiterate run country..............

06-16-2006, 03:35 AM

QUOTEUnfit to print 
The Pioneer Edit Desk
But why did Jharkhand capitulate? ---- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has notched one more medallion from its political master, the Human Resource Development Ministry. True to the form it struck after the UPA Government's coming to power as a pliant body of school academics, this once proud body has covered itself with infamy for circumventing the spirit of the Constitution. School education is a State subject and the Government of an Indian State is within its rights to decide if a book is fit or unfit for its school system. However, the manner in which the Jharkhand Government was arm-twisted into accepting the controversial NCERT textbooks betrays an agenda beyond building educational capacities. The Jharkhand Education Minister had rejected the pinko history which NCERT revived after the fall of the NDA Government but, tragically, lacked the will to counter them with better books. The contents of these books are not only inaccurate from a historical standpoint, their narrative style constitute unsuitable pedagogy. "Ancient Aryans" (as if they were members of an exclusive ethnic grouping), the dubious author of one of these books for 12-year-olds said with the finality of an auto mechanic diagonising a fuel line disorder, "ate beef". In another book, Guru Tegh Bahadur and the glorious Khalsa Panth, the tenacious Jats and the entire opposition to 'zinda peer' Aurangzeb, have been belittled and mocked. The Jharkhand Education Ministry had decided not to permit the books with the offensive passages and had sought permission to continue with the non-controversial texts. No prizes for guessing why NCERT insisted on doing business on its own terms. The end result was the presentation of India's education as a ludicruous landscape where curricula designed for different eras are officially allowed to co-exist.

The winner writes history and so the Communists are having their day. But why is the BJP, which is in power in Jharkhand, languidly allowing itself to be pushed over? In August 2004, then BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu had announced that States governed by his party would not permit spurious history texts. Yet, the Jharkhand unit failed to make common cause with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and others BJP-ruled States that have developed their own textbooks. Surely, Jharkhand could have borrowed the texts used in Madhya Pradesh's schools while taking its own time to erect a State satellite of NCERT? It is to be hoped the BJP's central leadership will take a close look at the situation arising from the implementation arm of the party crossing out what the policy arm is doing. If cultural nationalism, the founding crucible of the BJP, is still relevant, is it not time to build up a coordinated response to the apparently disjointed, but actually well orchestrated, intellectual onslaught on India's history?

07-27-2006, 02:03 AM

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1752785,0006.htm

QUOTEIn a bid to 'desaffronise education', Tamil Nadu government would remove portions on 'Hindutva policies', in some of the prescribed text books under the school syllabus, state School Education minister Thangam Thennarasu told the assembly on Tuesday.

Intervening during the debate on the state budget, the minister said "this saffronisation of education did not take place when the DMK was in power. However, we will take all steps to remove those portions aimed at saffronisation."

Dalit Panthers of India member and a known writer, Ravikumar, while participating in the debate, said some portions of a few school text books were aimed at propagating 'Hindutva policies' and sought their immediate removal.

08-16-2006, 08:45 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /> NCERT will include Gujarat riots, Sikh carnage, Ayodhya dispute

Press Trust of India

New Delhi, August 16, 2006

Related Stories [X] close

Sikhs 'hurt' by NCERT history books Â»

The 2002 Gujarat riots, the Ayodhya dispute and the 1984 Sikh carnage will be a part of the class XII curriculum for Political Science as the NCERT has decided to include in its texts events that influenced the political process in the country since Independence.

However, the textbook writers will steer clear of any controversy and give information from government sources.

The change in the syllabus comes in the wake of the implementation of the National Curriculum Framework, which suggests that the textbooks should connect knowledge to real life situations.

"You cannot teach Political Science to students sidestepping the major events, which had significant influence on society and polity, no matter whether controversial or not," said Prof Yogendra Yadav, a member of the panel for preparation of Political Science textbooks.

"So we are covering all the major happenings including Gujarat riots, Ayodhya incident, Emergency and many other controversies," he said.

The topics would give the established facts taken from government sources which cannot be disputed by anybody, he said adding that the text would also refrain from going into full details of the incidents.

The chapter on Gujarat riots will deal with an overview of the incident and the largescale killing of "people of a particular community", he said.

"The topic will also give a human rights view and a counterview on the incident," Yadav said, adding the textbook will be introduced in April 2007.

08-18-2006, 02:02 AM

QUOTEMischief afoot 
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Propaganda as textbooks

In the guise of "connecting knowledge with real life situations", propagandists of the Congress masquerading as academicians are planning to feed young, impressionable minds with monumental lies by including them in NCERT textbooks. It is amazing that Mr Yogendra Yadav, a self-proclaimed psephologist who is seen more on television channels unabashedly plumbing for the Congress and the Left or pushing the case of caste over merit, and whose academic credentials would impress only his political benefactors like Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, has been assigned the task of 'chief adviser' to the panel that is responsible for re-writing NCERT textbooks, thus putting a big question mark over the future of education in this country. Given the fact that a person of such dubious repute shall lay down the guidelines, it is not surprising that children will be fed with Congress-sanitised versions of what Mr Yadav has the audacity to describe as the "truth" about the 2004 riot in Gujarat, the Ayodhya dispute and the 1984 pogrom against Sikhs. We can take it for granted that what will appear in print in political science textbooks will be no different from the contents of Congress or CPI(M) pamphlets that paint the BJP in the bleakest of colours while celebrating recalcitrant Islamism; we can also be sure that what our children will be told about the horrendous massacre of Sikhs by mobs encouraged, if not led, by Congress leaders after Indira Gandhi's assassination shall be more than a shade different from the truth. Nor should we have any doubts about the wondrous things that will be listed as "achievements" of Mrs Gandhi's Emergency that saw the ruthless suppression of civil liberties and democratic rights. After all, as Mr Yadav has explained, the material for these events will be culled from Government sources - in other words, from Congress propaganda archives. To add a touch of authenticity, Mr Yadav and his cohorts will cite from the perverse report on the Godhra carnage prepared by Justice Banerjee at the behest of Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav which was used as publicity material along with posters of the RJD's first couple to woo Muslim voters during last year's Bihar Assembly election. The textbooks conceived by cronies of the regime of the day, of course, will maintain a silence over the Nellie massacre, the Bhagalpur and Kalupur riots, Operation Bluestar, the torching of Ananda Marg monks in Kolkata, the ethnic cleansing of Kashmir valley, the genocide against Kashmiri Pandits, the insidious spread of Islamic fanaticism and similar acts of omission and commission committed by the Congress and its Communist allies. Connection with "real life situations" indeed!

This vile mischief must be nipped in the bud before it is too late. We cannot allow classrooms to be converted into party propaganda centres; that may have been fashionable in the USSR, but in democratic India it is unacceptable. This paper has repeatedly asserted that the writing of history and textbooks should be taken out of the vicious control of Government and left to qualified academicians with unimpeachable credentials. Till such time this is done, charlatans who are dependent on Government largesse and political patronage shall continue to poison the minds of our children, denying them the right to think freely and to choose fact over fiction

ramana · 08-19-2006, 12:00 AM

Follow-up story about the NCERT textbooks issue from Pioneer 19 Aug 2006

QUOTEBJP corners Govt on NCERT textbooks

Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

Centre orders probe into portrayal of freedom fighters as terrorists 

The controversy over distortion of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks saw a major uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Friday forcing the Government to order an inquiry into portrayal of country's legendary freedom fighters as terrorists and inclusion of other objectionable issues.

With the NCERT already in the eye of a storm over inclusion of several communally sensitive issues like Babri demolition, Sikh riots and Gujarat riots, the Government was placed on the back foot by the combined Opposition. 

The issue rocked the upper House when the BJP-led Opposition strongly protested against alleged distortions and objectionable language in the NCERT school textbooks.

The Left and the Samajwadi Party and even some Congress members also backed the demand for a probe.

"This is a very urgent matter and I request the Government to conduct a probe into how these books have come about. This requires immediate action," said CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury .

Sensing the mood of the House, the Government assured the Elders that the Ministry would examine the issue and do the needful.

The House saw uproar when Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) read out portions from the NCERT books which carried objectionable language and describing freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak as "terrorists."

"Bipin Chandra's book was reintroduced and revised. The book accuses Jats of robbery. What's worse, it calls Lok Manya Tilak, Arvindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal terrorists," said Prasad.

Almost the entire Opposition demanded a probe and immediate action against the writer of the books, which according to them, were included in the syllabus this year. The BJP members walked into the well of the House seeking permission to submit the books to the Chair.

Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan denied the permission to table the books and said it was against the rules and urged the agitated members to go back to their seats. The House then saw sharp exchanges between the BJP and treasury benches with the Congress members countering the charge initially claiming that it was unlikely that such books were part of the school curriculum.

The treasury benches later came around to the Opposition view that the matter was serious and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri assured the House that he would convey the sentiments of the members to the concerned ministry.

Prasad said the books also contained derogatory references to various communities and castes and obscene language besides suggestions to girl students to use cosmetics and that education and merit alone did not ensure progress in life.

He said the books allegedly termed Jat community as marauders and disparaging depiction of some other castes, adding it would pollute the minds of impressionable minds. The deputy chairman expressed concern over this and said the matter was serious.

Amidst the din, Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress) said if these allegations were true, the Government should look into it. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh aired similar views and asked the Government to take suitable action against the guilty people and Sitaram Yechury agreed with this suggestion.

Seeking a probe into the alleged distortions, Abani Roy (RSP) said such books should be banned and Vijay Darda (Congress) said the distortion should be set right and an inquiry ordered to find out who had done such a thing. The din died down when Pachauri assured the members that the Government will take the matter seriously.

Another important issue to come up in the Zero Hour was the alleged irregularities in the evaluation of answer sheets of students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The matter was raised by Alka Balram Kshatriya (Congress) and Sushma Swaraj (BJP) and they expressed concern over school students examining answer papers of graduation and post- graduation students of Chaudhary Charan Singh University and demanded action by the University Grants Commission.

08-21-2006, 09:25 AM

QUOTEAugust 21, 2006, Pioneer
Sacred texts -- Chandan Mitra
Probably because politicians rarely read history - leave alone learn from it - they are obsessed with revising it. At least since the mid-70s, India's history is being tossed around by Governments of different hues because they aspire to condition impressionable minds to their version of our past. With equal zeal, successor Governments have spent much of their time "righting the wrongs" only to have one version supplanted by another a few years down the line.

The latest outrage over existing and proposed history textbooks that the UPA regime is bent on teaching schoolchildren follows this now familiar pattern. As a result of an uproar in the Rajya Sabha last Friday, a reluctant Government conceded an inquiry into the alleged

defiling of heroes of India, although I am extremely sceptical about the outcome of any such probe.

The origin of the latest fracas is a politically motivated plan to bring contemporary history up to date in NCERT textbooks. According to a well known self-publicist who is purportedly in charge of the Arjun Singh sponsored project to inject "political correctness" (read Marxist venom), NCERT books will soon be updated to include chapters on recent developments like the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Punjab terrorism, the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, the Ayodhya Movement and more importantly the Gujarat riots of 2002, which the worthy in-charge asserted "targeted a particular community".

As a student of history, I strongly object to the move to include such recent events as part of the school history curriculum. There is a recognised convention that only those events that occurred approximately 50 years before the present should qualify as history. There is a very good reason for this. The 50-year gap virtually ensures that the protagonists of those events are no longer in our midst and are, therefore, neither extolled nor maligned. This is important, for history revolves around political personalities and they should not be able to benefit from, or be disadvantaged by, the discourse around their actions.

It is too early, for instance, to make a historical assessment of the role of the legendary DGP of Punjab Police KPS Gill who almost single-handedly combated the terrorist scourge in the State. He has his staunch admirers, among whom I am proud to be classified. Equally, he has strong detractors in the jholawala, human rights lobby. Besides, the relevant official documents pertaining to Punjab terrorism will not be declassified at least till 2043, the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the end of sustained terror in the State, although sporadic incidents, including the murder of Chief Minister Beant Singh, happened even later. In the absence of documents that are declassified only after 50 years (it's 30 years in a less volatile society like Britain) and released to the National Archives for scholars to see, no dispassionate judgement is possible. In other words, no authoritative historical manuscripts will roll out before, say, 2050, on Punjab terrorism, including its victims such as Indira Gandhi. Textbooks for schoolchildren must follow rather than precede scholarly works. It's preposterous to prejudice the minds of tomorrow's historians, who are studying in school today, through judgmental, essentially journalistic, accounts of events of the recent past.

Arjun Singh's secular fundamentalist spin doctors have given the game away by including the Gujarat riots in the ambit of their project to tamper with the past. There can be no guesses as to what they have in mind in their sanctimonious reference to the "targeting of a particular community". Given the antecedents of the spokesman of the project, it can safely be assumed that the "particular community" that was targeted by a mob of murderous hoodlums at Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 is not on the radar. The aim, obviously, is to gun for those allegedly involved in the post-Godhra riots. The bull's eye is clearly the incumbent Chief Minister of the State.

I am astonished that the Government proposes to teach children about what happened in Gujarat even before the report of the official Commission of Inquiry has been submitted. The Nanavati-Shah Commission is still haggling with Rashtrapati Bhawan, seeking access to former President KR Narayanan's correspondence with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Obviously, the Commission has not even started writing its report. So what will the textbooks rely on by way of "authoritative" information? The findings of the UC Banerjee panel propped up by Lalu Yadav, which concluded that the kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were suddenly possessed by an urge for collective suicide and set themselves on fire inside two coaches of the Sabarmati Express after securely bolting them from outside? I am afraid this is the only reference that is likely to be found in the proposed NCERT textbook to the Godhra incident that sparked a reaction in the rest of the State. It is not my intention to justify what happened in Gujarat subsequently. The only question is whether an event barely four years old should be formally taught to children for they will be examined on their knowledge of it. And given the conflicting passions that the Gujarat events, or similar communally tainted issues such as the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, arouse in people including probable examiners, is this fair to children?

The pseudo-secularist high priests also propose to include the Ayodhya Movement in the list of school textbook subjects with the evident aim of denouncing the BJP, particularly LK Advani. Again, we know how violently India is divided on this issue. Existing scholarship, for whatever it is worth in the absence of declassified documents, is equally conflicting in its conclusions. Will the inclusion of the Ayodhya Movement, that too, a patently one-sided version, be in the best interests of fostering communal unity? Or will it result in further disharmony?

It can be argued that in the age of information, 24-hour news channels, a growing number of newspapers and unlimited, easily accessible material on the Internet, old-fashioned ideas about guarding the contentious present from the inquisitive minds of children makes sense no more. But the crucial difference is that information about complex issues is one thing, to be tested in examinations about their "correct" interpretation quite another.

I may be accused of having no faith in the impartiality of the crop of scholars who have been entrusted this job by the Government. Indeed, I don't. To begin with, they are brazen. They have refused to pull out even the derogatory references to Vedic Hindu customs, the role of a nationalist martyr like Guru Tegh Bahadur and deried the entire Jat community. Their old books have been re-issued by the NCERT in place of the more appropriate, non-controversial versions published during Murli Manohar Joshi's stewardship of the HRD Ministry.

Worse, they have described icons like Rishi Aurobindo as a terrorist. Can we trust our history in the hands of those who blaspheme the nation and its beliefs?

08-24-2006, 02:49 AM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /> Jats want removal of âinsulting remarksâ from book

Rohtak, August 19
Taking exception to the description of Jats as a community of "lutere" (looters) in a book published by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the Yuva Kisan Manch today burnt an effigy of the council here.

The slogan-shouting protesters demanded the removal of the alleged "insulting remarks" against the Jat community and the registration of a criminal case against the author of the book.

Meham Chaubisi Sarv Khaap panchayat president Surat Singh and Haryana Jat Maha Sabha president Kuldeep Singh have threatened to launch a ''massive agitation'' in case the NCERT failed to remove the objectionable remarks against the community.

Addressing the demonstrators today, former Haryana Minister and BJP leader Krishan Murty Hooda lambasted the NCERT for publishing insulting remarks against Jats.

He said that the Jat community had played an important role in the freedom movement and in defending the nation and had made a significant contribution in India achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrain production.

Mr Hooda urged Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh to order immediate withdrawal of the controversial book and demanded registration of a criminal case against its author. â

08-26-2006, 06:48 PM

Obscenity in texts: UPA in line of fire
QUOTENEW DELHI: TheÂ UPA government came under fire from the opposition BJP that
criticised theÂ Congress and HRD minister Arjun Singh for accepting IGNOU
textbooks, whichÂ contain "obscene and derogatory" references to Hindu deities even as theÂ minister sought to clarify that the texts had been withdrawn.

The BJP also targeted governmentÂ for NCERT books, which defame celebrated
freedom fighters as terrorists andÂ malign the Jat community as plunderers.

Matters degenerated i nto chaos when BJP MP NeetaÂ Pateriya made remarks
about Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, which set off anÂ uproar from treasury
benches and resulted in an adjournment besides expunctionÂ of what the MP had
said.

This brought the calling attention motion to an abruptÂ end.

Referring to textbooks of MAÂ courses in IGNOU, BJP's V K Malhotra alleged
they contained obscene referencesÂ about Lord Shiva, referred to Goddess Durga getting intoxicated and describedÂ Lord Krishna as "cunning". 

MalhotraÂ charged HRD minister of promoting the writer instead of punishing
him. ArjunÂ Singh clarified that the references had been edited from the books
circulated inÂ 2005.

He said an expert committeeÂ had been appointed to review the entire MA
course 'Religious thoughts andÂ beliefs in India' of IGNOU, pending which a
decision has been taken toÂ discontinue the course.

Quickly,Â Malhotra shifted to NCERT books for Class 12, which he alleged,
referred toÂ Khudiram Bose and other freedom fighters as "terrorists". He said
these booksÂ had not been withdrawn while referring to derogatory references to
the JatÂ community.

As he returned to theÂ theme of gods and goddesses, leader of House Pranab
Mukherjee took everyone byÂ surprise when he stood up to quote from Sapt Sati,
third chapter, to showÂ Goddess Durga had been linked to intoxication even in
the invocations.

08-29-2006, 02:24 AM

Textbook Riots
By J S Rajput 
retd. Director NCERT.

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