image source, UGC
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has sent a circular asking universities and colleges to hold seminars on controversial topics on India’s Constitution Day, which has created a lot of controversy.
Indian Constitution Day is observed on 26th November every year in India. Constitution Day is celebrated on the day when the new constitution of India is adopted.
Rajiv Gauba, the Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India, sent a letter to all the departmental secretaries on November 7, asking them to celebrate this year as well.
Following this, Gude Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Affairs, sent another letter to the secretaries.
In the letter, it was mentioned that the Constitution Day should be celebrated critically and a concept prepared by the Indian Council of Historical Studies was attached to the letter.
On this basis, University Grants Commission Secretary Rajneesh Jain has issued a circular to all universities, colleges.
It mentions India as the mother of democracy and mentions that there is evidence from the Vedic period that India has had a democratic tradition.
It has therefore been decided to observe this year’s Constitution Day by holding seminars on the theme “India: Mother of Democracy”.
Accordingly, in the morning meeting of every college and university, the preamble of the Constitution of India should be read, the fundamental duties mentioned in the constitution should be read, a lecture on the fundamental duties should be organized in every educational institution, and the fundamental duties should be pasted on the notice board of the educational institution, the circular said.
What is in the circular?
Addressing this year’s Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is the mother of democracy. Based on that, it is considered that India should be mentioned as mother of democracy in UGC’s letter.
The concept created by the Indian Council for Historical Research for this day is currently under controversy.
The article is titled Bharat: Loktantraki Ki Janani.
“India has had two types of governments since Vedic times, Janapada and Rajyapad. India has an experience of forming governments at the village level and at the central level.
1. Central political system and village society were separate. Thus, village communities were autonomous. They also created autonomous bodies like panchayats and kab panchayats.
Because of this, they remained unaffected by changing governments and the arrival of invaders especially hostile to Hindu culture.
This is how Hindu culture survived beyond the invasion of people belonging to different castes and cultures.
Democracy in India has been evolving for many years. Archaeological, literary and numismatic sources point to India’s diplomatic heritage. People’s self-government has existed since Vedic times.
The Indian political philosophy was different from the political philosophies of Greece and Rome. India has always emphasized intuition. There is no royal line here as in Greece. The Hindu state did not have centralized power like it did in the Roman Empire.
“Indians have a secular tradition since the Vedic period,” the concept goes on.
A number of subheadings have been controversially given after this. For example, 15 sub-topics are given such as Rig Veda and Bharata Loktantric Tradition, Sabha and Samiti: An Exploration of Bharata Loktantric Tradition, Kautilya’s Artha Sastra and Bharata Loktantra, Epigraphic Sources and Loktantric Tradition, Kap Panchayats and Loktantric Tradition.
It is these topics that are currently under controversy.
“What is the relationship between political charter and traditional Panchayat? Is it Constitution Day? Katap Panchayat Day? Action should be taken against the Indian Historical Research Institute and UGC, which has issued a paper to change the day of democracy to the day of Sanathana,” said Madurai Lok Sabha member of the Marxist Communist Party Su. Venkatesan has said.
It begins by saying, “All the great books of the world begin with reference to a power beyond man. But the Constitution of India is the only one. The charter which we, the people of India, have given ourselves.”
That is such a great charter. Our constitution was formed by rejecting monarchy, panchayat and feudalism. They are asking to hold a seminar on the pride of Kattapanjaya, the pride of the monarchy in order to destroy the content of that constitution. Its aim is to shape the mindset for themselves at all levels in India. This is an attack on democracy,” says Su Venkatesan.
Is it compulsory to hold these seminars because the University Grants Committee has sent such a letter? “There is no such compulsion. The University Grants Committee grants grants to universities. It cannot interfere in anything else. They can send a letter asking for such programs to be held. But there is no compulsion for universities and colleges to hold programs after asking for it,” says Dr. Kalanidhi, former vice-chancellor of Anna University.
Institutions may consider this even if it is only a suggestion. But the message sent with it reflects the agenda of the RSS. Dr. Kalanidhi questions how this can be taken to college students.
“It doesn’t matter whether they conduct seminars or not. When we can get the Indian Council of Historical Research to send such a concept, anything can happen in the future,” says Venkatesan.
Organizations preparing for the struggle
Meanwhile, higher education department sources in the Tamil Nadu government have told university vice-chancellors to ignore the circular.
In this situation, the Dravidar Kazhagam has announced that it will hold a protest in nine cities of Tamil Nadu on Friday, condemning the request to hold such seminars in universities.
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