Educating Bharat

MAULANA Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi—or Ali Mian, as he's better known—normally avoids controversies with political overtones. But the Uttar Pradesh government's proposal to begin the day in state-run or state-aided schools with the Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram has forced him to act. Ali Mian, who is also the president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and a Sunni theologist, has been joined by Shia leader Kalbe Sadiq in appealing to Muslims to withdraw their wards from such institutions if they are forced to join the recitations. Their appeal will directly affect around 12 lakh Muslim children attending government-aided or government-owned primary schools in the state.

The BJP government's move has engendered a sense of urgency within the minority community. A meeting of the Muslim Personal Law Board has been called to discuss the issue and chalk out a course of action. "Ali Mian's appeal to Muslims on this issue is much more serious than announcing a fatwa. It virtually amounts to a decree for Muslims at large," says Sadiq. And if the BJP passes a government order on the subject, the Shia leader says they would be compelled to open Islamic schools for their children. Predicts Ali Mian, "This will be a more serious affair than the demolition of the Babri masjid." The All India Muslim Forum has announced that it will hold demonstrations at all district headquarters on November 25. Says Mohammed Nehal-uddin, president of the forum, "We'll fight to the end to stop such nonsense".

The tension is building, but the government is not one to be conciliatory. Lalji Tandon, urban development minister and a senior BJP leader in the state, minces no words: "It's time Muslims learn the art of tolerance or else they can continue to feel isolated. We shall not stop the invocation to the goddess of learning or recital of Vande Mataram."

 Towards that end, officials of the directorate of education have fanned out to the state's farthest corners. So for the attendance roll call at the Prathamik Vidyalaya in Uttar Dhawna village, for instance, students answer "Vande Mataram" instead of "hazir hoon". The BJP government's "Kalp Yojana" to revamp basic education also specifies that all its schools should have a picture of Saraswati measuring 30 inches by 18 inches. For the students of such schools, it makes little difference. "I don't mind even chanting the Saraswati Vandana if all my friends do the same," says Ayesha Bano, a student of class six. However, college-goer and Shia activist Sadaf Fatima says, "I resent the idea in as much as it interferes with the essence of Quranic law."

 Educationists see the entire issue as a mere political gimmick. But, says Roop Rekha Varma, vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, "I prefer to remain quiet, for every time I have come out with what is right in a secular country I have had to face harassment."

 Meanwhile, minister for education Ravinder Shukla has a further agenda: rewrite history. "I'm determined to change the syllabus," he says. A panel of writers has already been entrusted with the job to kindle the Hindu spirit in students "at any cost". Counters Maulana Burhan-uddin Sambhali, "All other political parties should get together in opposing the BJP's anti-secular gameplan."

 On their part, Tandon and Shukla cannot understand why people are averse to the recitations. Tandon takes it a step further. "Such people cannot be called patriots. Instead, they are heading for another partition," he says. Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi sees a conspiracy to mislead Muslims in the country. "Vande Mataram is not anti-Muslim and there is an attempt to give it a political colour, mislead Muslims and exploit their sentiments to gain political mileage," he feels.

Shukla's agenda to reorient Indian history, though, will not happen in a hurry. Says C.P. Tiwari, research assistant at the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT), "It is absolutely impossible to bring about any changes before three years." No government has brought changes in the curriculum without routing it through the SCERT. But Shukla's statements have raised doubts and hackles. "With such announcements, we feel that the BJP is aiming at distorting the syllabus based on ethnocentric ideology," says Zafar-yab Jilani, convenor, All India Babri Masjid Action Committee. "We are prepared to oppose it at any cost."