EDUCATIONAL REFORMS A little modesty and a little honesty are enough to convince us that life and the world are too complex and subtle for our imprisoned minds. The more we learn the less we know; every advance reveals new mysteries and uncertainties; the molecule discloses the atom; the atom discloses the electron; the electron discloses the quantum, and the quantum defies and overleaps all our categories and all our laws. Education is a moulting of dogmas a progress in the art of doubt. This should teach us some humility. As knowledge spreads slavery will decrease both amongst classes and among nations. Nations will be free recognizing no master other than their reason. Perhaps mankind will unlearn war and terrorism. History will become progress in three stages from theology through metaphysics to science. There ought to be tremendous expenditure of wealth and labour in the equipment of schools and provision of instruction for all. Colleges are no longer to be treated as luxuries. They should be so numerous that he who runs may become a Ph.D. The purpose of education is to instruct rather than forbid. If we wish to improve other people’s morals lets us improve our own. Example speaks so loud that percept is unheard. The best thing we do for the community is not to fetter it with laws but to straighten our own lives with tolerance and honour. A gentleman would have no morals but his own. The time must come when men will understand that the highest function of government is not to legislate but to educate, to make not laws but schools. The greatest statesmen, like the subtlest teacher, will guide and suggest through information, rather than invite pugnacity with prohibitions and commands; his motto will be, ‘Millions for education, not one cent for compulsion’. The state, which began as the conquest and taxation of peaceful peasants by marauding herdsmen, will become again, as it was for a moment under benevolent monarchs, the leadership of a great nation by great men. We need not so despair of our race as to believe that government will be in the hands of corrupt politicians forever. Day by day a hoard of knowledge rises; generation after generation the heritage of culture grows, and finds transmission to a larger minority of mankind; soon men will not tolerate the charlatans that we have suffered so patiently and so long. Our children’s children, lifted up by our care, will choose their rulers more wisely than we chose. They will ask not for lawmakers but for creative teachers; they will submit not to regimentation but to knowledge; they will achieve peace and order not through violence and compulsion, but through advance spread and organization of intelligence. Let us confess to ourselves that our educational system unfortunately is lopsided; it gives knowledge but no character; it gives power but no wisdom; it gives cleverness but no conscience. This has to change and sooner the better. The quality of civilization depends on the respect in which teachers are held. It is unfortunate that our teachers almost invariably live in a state of honourable poverty. The best minds do not take to teaching. The one subject which ought to be a compulsory and most vital part of the curriculum of our schools and colleges is ‘Secularism’. True secularism proclaimed by the Constitution of India is not understood except by a few who do not matter. The politicians have made it a word of political abuse. ‘I am secular but my opponent is communal’ that was the unholy propaganda which made mockery of our electoral process and our democracy. Fortunately this evil failed its votaries and they are no longer in control. The new government must see to it that true secularism becomes a compulsory subject to be taught and students tested about it by clever question in examination papers. The pity is that there is not one authoritative text book which properly explains what secularism means under the Constitution of India. I must draw attention to the famous judgment of the Supreme Court of India in December of 1995 in what is popularly called the Hindutva judgment. Relying on earlier constitutional bench judgments which were binding it held that Hinduism itself is not like the well known monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity or Islam. It does not believe in a single god, a single scripture or a uniform set of rituals or beliefs. It has no single founder like Jesus Christ or Prophet Muhammad; even the date of its birth is not known. Hindutva any way cannot be called a religion. It is not even a synonym of Hinduism. The Court was persuaded by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s book Indian Muslims, The Need for a Positive Outlook, in which he wrote that ‘Hindutva’ means ‘Indianisation’. The way of Hindutva, says Maulana, aims at developing a uniform culture by obliterating the differences between all the cultures coexisting in the country. This is said to be the way to communal harmony and national unity. Maulana rightly concludes that the concept of Hindutva will obliterate the distinction between Ram and Rahim. The Constitution of India in its preamble proudly claims that it is a secular state. The content of this secularism is to be found in the 25th Article. While it gives every citizen the right to profess and practice any religion of his choice it also gives him the right to propagate it. This was added at the instance and insistence of the Muslim and Christian members of the Constituent Assembly of India. All these three rights however wisely are subject to public order, health and morality. There are very few persons who grasp the fantastic meaning and wisdom of this provision. The first proposition that emerges from it is that religious beliefs and practices may well be a menace to public order, or a threat to human health or offensive to morals. The second corollary is that any one propagating his or any religion is entitled to compare and contrast it with other religions and demonstrate the superiority of the one he prefers. This will not lead to prosecution for blasphemy or invite anger or a violent response mayhem or murder. In other words society must have developed a tremendous spirit of tolerance peacefully to hear arguments for and against any religion. Lastly the conflict between the scripture and morals if alleged will not be decided by the scripture itself but by something else. That can only be our mammalian equipment the human brain. In short Indian secularism means and mandates a life guided by reason and logic but inspired by love and charity. My own view of secularism is to make as many persons happy as you can while you live and increase the sum total of human happiness. The government must invite scholars to produce a standard text book on Indian secularism, the study of which should be compulsory for every student.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 06:17:20 +0000
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