Now, saffron outfit wants CBSE schools to drop foreign languages
Sanskrit text on a wall in a Jain temple in Ranakpur, Pali district, Rajasthan. (Getty Images photo)
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the HRD ministry's decision to remove German as the third language from Kendriya Vidyalayas, Sanskrit Bharati — an RSS outfit — wants the government to implement the same in CBSE-affiliated schools and compulsorily teach Sanskrit till Class XII.
Dinesh Kamath, all-India organizing secretary of Sanskrit Bharati and RSS pracharak for 33 years, says India is synonymous with Sanskrit.
"How can you be Indian without knowing Sanskrit?" he says, adding that his outfit can even carry out an agitation if CBSE schools too do not stop teaching foreign languages as the third language.
Kamath displays a book brought out by the outfit — 'Science in Sanskrit'— that talks about test tube babies, ships, aeroplanes and plastic surgery among other things in ancient India, but dissociates himself from PM Narendra Modi's statement that Ganesha's elephant-head was a surgical feat. "You ask him," he says.
READ ALSO: Irani defends Sanskrit replacing German in Kendriya Vidyalayas
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HRD minister Smriti Irani.
Kamath laments the decision of the Constituent Assembly to not make Sanskrit the national language, a proposal made by BR Ambedkar. Since 1947, successive governments have systematically killed Sanskrit, he says. "It is the mother of Indo-European languages. This has resulted in Sanskrit taking a backseat whereas Persian and Urdu words have come into our daily life. For instance, what is the need to use words like darwaza (door) and akhbaar (newspaper)," Kamath wonders.
He is also upset that the ancient Indian contribution to science is not acknowledged. "Why is Baudhyana sutra not mentioned along with Pythogoras theorem or Aryabhatta not credited for finding the value of Pi," he asks.
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Manuscripts on palm leaves kept in the library at Sanskrit College in Mylapore, Chennai. (TOI file photo by A Prathap)
Kamath also blames the Sanskrit pedagogy in the country. He says it is being taught through translation with too much emphasis on grammar. "A stereotype has been created about Sanskrit, of being inaccessible, tough and religious. Only five per cent of Sanskrit literature is about Vedas and other texts. Rest is all about physics, chemistry, astrology, astronomy and yoga. Sanskrit is a treasure of knowledge," he says.
He gives example of Hebrew in Israel and Japanese and Chinese as languages that have made these nations superpowers without relying on English.
READ ALSO: Kendriya Vidyalaya board dumps German for Sanskrit
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RSS cadres during a morning drill. (TOI file photo)
Dinesh Kamath, all-India organizing secretary of Sanskrit Bharati and RSS pracharak for 33 years, says India is synonymous with Sanskrit.
"How can you be Indian without knowing Sanskrit?" he says, adding that his outfit can even carry out an agitation if CBSE schools too do not stop teaching foreign languages as the third language.
Kamath displays a book brought out by the outfit — 'Science in Sanskrit'— that talks about test tube babies, ships, aeroplanes and plastic surgery among other things in ancient India, but dissociates himself from PM Narendra Modi's statement that Ganesha's elephant-head was a surgical feat. "You ask him," he says.
READ ALSO: Irani defends Sanskrit replacing German in Kendriya Vidyalayas
HRD minister Smriti Irani.
Kamath laments the decision of the Constituent Assembly to not make Sanskrit the national language, a proposal made by BR Ambedkar. Since 1947, successive governments have systematically killed Sanskrit, he says. "It is the mother of Indo-European languages. This has resulted in Sanskrit taking a backseat whereas Persian and Urdu words have come into our daily life. For instance, what is the need to use words like darwaza (door) and akhbaar (newspaper)," Kamath wonders.
He is also upset that the ancient Indian contribution to science is not acknowledged. "Why is Baudhyana sutra not mentioned along with Pythogoras theorem or Aryabhatta not credited for finding the value of Pi," he asks.
Manuscripts on palm leaves kept in the library at Sanskrit College in Mylapore, Chennai. (TOI file photo by A Prathap)
Kamath also blames the Sanskrit pedagogy in the country. He says it is being taught through translation with too much emphasis on grammar. "A stereotype has been created about Sanskrit, of being inaccessible, tough and religious. Only five per cent of Sanskrit literature is about Vedas and other texts. Rest is all about physics, chemistry, astrology, astronomy and yoga. Sanskrit is a treasure of knowledge," he says.
He gives example of Hebrew in Israel and Japanese and Chinese as languages that have made these nations superpowers without relying on English.
READ ALSO: Kendriya Vidyalaya board dumps German for Sanskrit
RSS cadres during a morning drill. (TOI file photo)
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