New Delhi: The ‘Deshbhakti curriculum’ to be introduced in schools by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government may include chapters on Indian Army soldiers who died in Kargil, including Captain Saurabh Kalia and Captain Vijayant Thapar, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said.
“Children should know about Captain Saurabh Kalia, Captain Vijayant Thapar, who died during the Kargil war… people who died for our country,” Sisodia told ThePrint in an exclusive interview. “We’ve only read about these people in the newspaper. Our children deserve to know about their bravery.”
Captains Kalia and Thapar were both 22 when they died during the Kargil war in 1999.
Captain Kalia and his team of five jawans were captured by the Pakistani army after they spotted and confronted a group of intruders on the Line of Control. The six soldiers were severely tortured by the Pakistani army — their eyes were gouged and their ears, noses and genitals chopped off.
Captain Thapar was shot in the head while charging at an enemy bunker during the Army’s Knoll assault, which India eventually won.
The Deshbhakti curriculum, which is scheduled for launch with the next academic session (2020-21), is aimed at instilling patriotism in school students. It was announced by CM Kejriwal in a tweet this Independence Day.
देशभक्ति पाठ्यक्रम बनाने वाली कमेटी ने कुछ बच्चों से पूछा कि उनके लिए देशभक्ति का मतलब क्या है?
बच्चों के तरफ से आए सुझाव पढ़ कर मुझे विश्वास हुआ इस देश का भविष्य सुनहरा है। pic.twitter.com/qKftYAgAvy
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 26, 2019
It is one of the Kejriwal government’s three novel education initiatives, the others being a “happiness curriculum” and an “entrepreneurship mindset curriculum”.
Sisodia said the Deshbhakti curriculum is expected to include details on some martyrs and “goes beyond the BJP’s notion of nationalism”.
“If someone permits me, I would want to take students to Wagah border, Haldi Ghati, places where Gandhiji lived, or even Bhagat Singh’s native village,” Sisoida said. “Field trips and ‘feel’ trips would be the aim of this curriculum.”
He, however, denied it was linked to the upcoming polls — nationalism is one of the prime poll pitches of rival BJP — saying it was part of a larger plan.
It just wouldn’t have been fair to talk patriotism with students who didn’t have washrooms in their schools, he added.
“We started working on improving infrastructure in the first year, then focused on teacher training in the second year, introduced happiness curriculum next year, introduced entrepreneurship curriculum this year and only now (started) talking of the Deshbhakti curriculum,” he added.
The initiative wasn’t meant to build a counter-narrative to the BJP’s either, he said.
“I am not giving a counter-narrative. It is more than that. I want children to understand that it isn’t about loving borders…it is about loving your people, the environment, the law and everything else about one’s country. If a law is misplaced, then even calling that out is deshbhakti,” he added.
‘New education board to have reformed exam system’
Sisodia, who is also the Delhi Education Minister, said the state government was also working on bringing a “next-generation board” that helps students prepare for entrance examinations like JEE (engineering) and NEET (medicine), while also allowing budding sportspersons to prioritise their passion over conventional exams.
“There is a need for reform in our examination system so that children don’t have to take separate coaching for the IIT entrance exam,” he added.
“What’s the point of studying in Class 12 if one has to spend half the time outside school and spend extra on coaching centres,” he said. “…Our preparation in schools is based on what will come in board exams, which is very dangerous,” Sisodia added.
If someone wanted to pursue sports, he/she should have the option to prioritise their desire over other “mainstream” subjects, he said. “We want to give that option in the new board.”
‘No one complains when pvt schools put cameras’
Given Delhi’s image as a hub of crime, especially against women, the AAP government has been on a drive to install thousands of CCTV cameras around the national capital.
However, a proposal to install CCTV cameras in classrooms of government schools has triggered much debate, especially with regard to its potential for snooping and surveillance. Sisodia is quick to dismiss any concerns about the move.
“When private schools have cameras, no one raises concerns… People pay fees and stand in queues to avail of the same,” he said. Almost every restaurant and mall in Delhi has CCTV cameras, but that doesn’t bother anyone, he added.
“I have problems… if a teacher is murdered in school, there is lawlessness, children are rowdy, so are teachers… I need to resolve some of these problems,” he said.
“I am worried about the plight of parents who think their children are in school but actually somewhere else. There have been several cases where young girls were missing when they claimed to be in school and were later found to be pregnant,” Sisodia added.
‘Will enrol children in Delhi govt schools regardless of nationality’
Sisodia said he was looking into the case of two Pakistani Hindu children who were denied admission by a Delhi government school for being overage.
The case was brought to his notice by ThePrint.
“I have asked my director to get details,” Sisodia told ThePrint. “I will ensure any such child who resides in Delhi does not have to suffer and gets admission regardless of where he or she belongs.”
‘Don’t pitch religion to divide one against another’
Apart from nationalism, the AAP has also been seen making a fresh pitch to approach voters with appeals rooted in religion, with a fully-paid pilgrimage for members of different faiths considered a step in this direction.
However, Sisodia denied there was a religious undertone to their working.
“Tirath yatras (sponsored by government) have been there for two years. Not new…and we aren’t pitching one against another,” he said. “We will never encourage an election fight on the basis of religion.”
On AAP’s ‘change in tone’ towards PM
As reported by ThePrint last month, Delhi CM Kejriwal has visibly softened his attitude to once-arch-nemesis PM Narendra Modi, the latest instance being his praise for the decision to scrap Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories.
It is a far cry from the days when he launched a diatribe against the PM almost on a daily basis.
“We cooperate where there is cooperation required, like cleaning the country. We are the ones who took ‘jhadu (AAP symbol)’, right? When you talk of banning plastic, who would want plastic to be there? We don’t fall short in cooperation,” he added.
He, however, said the party was against the politics of religion and casteism
“We never question skilled empowerment, we want the same skilled development in Delhi too. We have also brought world skill centres here. So we don’t unnecessarily create issues,” he added. “We are doing our politics, you are free to make what you want of it.”
Also read: Kejriwal wants students to be patriotic, will introduce ‘Deshbhakti Curriculum’ in schools
After 73 years of Democratic Indian independence, we are still facing lot of atracities against our caste and discrimination, it’s very shame to our nation,