UP adds Savarkar, Deendayal biographies to school syllabus. Opposition calls it ‘educational corruption’

Life histories of 50 personalities will be taught in classes 9-12. Opposition protests inclusion of Savarkar & Deendayal Upadhyaya, saying they didn't participate in freedom struggle.

File photo of UP CM Yogi Adityanath | ANI

Lucknow: Come July and around one crore students in 27,000 schools of Uttar Pradesh government, both aided and unaided, will study the life histories of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) leader Deendayal Upadhyaya as part of a mandatory subject.

The two Hindutva proponents are among the 50 eminent personalities — which includes  freedom fighters, scholars, intellectuals and scientists — whose biographies are being included in the syllabus for classes 9-12.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised that lives of “eminent persons and independence activists” will be included in regular studies in its Lok Kalyan sankalp-patra (election manifesto) ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, the Opposition has hit back saying that neither Savarkar nor Upadhyaya participated in any prominent freedom struggle and only advocated the cause of a particular religion.

Chapters on these personalities have been incorporated in books on moral education, sports, physical education, and yoga which will be compulsory for students to pass. “These subjects are compulsory for all students, and it is mandatory for all students to pass them. However, their marks will not be included in the mark sheets of Classes 10 and 12,” a statement from the UP government said. ThePrint has a copy of the statement.

While Savarkar’s life history will be a part of the class 9 syllabus, that of Upadhyaya will be a part of the class 11 syllabus.

“With the aim of introducing students of the state to the civilization and culture of the country…the UP Board has now added biographies of 50 great leaders in the academic curriculum….there has been a prolonged process regarding the inclusion of the names of these great personalities in the UP Board,” a statement from the government said.

Sources in the government confirmed to ThePrint that the process has been a meticulous one.

When contacted by ThePrint, UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board of education) secretary Dibyakant Shukla refused to comment.

Speaking to ThePrint, UP Board of education director, Mahendra Dev, defended the decision by saying that people are picking on a handful of names whereas personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Ambedkar are also on the list. “Different people had different approaches and people from a wide spectrum are included in the list,” he said.

The BJP has defended the decision, claiming that history of India has been “distorted for a long time due to the influence of communists and people with a certain ideology” and the state government is only “trying to  give space to those who have been eradicated from history”.

Speaking to ThePrint, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said Savarkar was once termed as the “remarkable son of India” by (former PM and Congress stalwart) Indira Gandhi herself. “That he remained in kaala pani (considered the toughest imprisonment during British rule, in the Andaman & Nicobar islands) for years shows his contribution. There were many freedom fighters who contributed in the freedom struggle by staying outside the country.”

Likewise, he said the life and philosophy of Deendayal Upadhyaya is so great “that knowing his thoughts would help every child”.

According to news agency ANI, state education minister Gulab Devi said the idea was to strengthen the moral and cultural values of children who will grow up to participate in nation-building.

Opposition hits out 

Savarkar has long been a controversial figure in Indian politics, especially since he is a Hindutva ideologue and revered by the BJP, even as the opposition parties question his contribution to the freedom struggle. Upadhyaya’s BJS was a forerunner of the BJP.

Talking to ThePrint, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj Singh Kaka said, “This is educational corruption. (Socialist thinker) Jai Prakash Narayan had called for an educational revolution but the BJP government is resorting to educational corruption and forcing impressionable minds to study Savarkar and Deendayal Upadhyaya…Which freedom struggle did they participate in?” 

They only ran their politico-cultural agenda. There was a time when Hitler was the ideal of Savarkar,” he alleged.

The Congress chose to dwell on Savarkar’s history to emphasise that the move was unfortunate, with party spokesperson Sachin Rawat saying, “…every citizen knows that he had no contribution in the freedom struggle which saw lakhs die…he was in jail and playing informant to the British government.” 

Rawat added that Savarkar had written to the British government in 1920 from jail, calling himself “the most obedient servant”. “The British were paying him Rs 65 as pension in exchange of information on freedom fighters and their activities…If the government is teaching about him, youngsters should get to know his reality that he was a mafiveer, and a veer (the brave) only for the RSS and the BJP,” he said. 

List tailored ‘as per BJP manifesto’

According to the government statement, “a list of the names of these great personalities was sent to the government by subject experts of the UP Board,” and the decision to include these 50 names followed an approval from the government.

Sources in the education department confirmed to ThePrint that a list of personalities was prepared by the curriculum committee of the UP Board which has in-house subject experts.

“A list was prepared by the curriculum committee after identifying 50 such eminent personalities, freedom fighters and scientists, etc., and sent to the education department in Lucknow. The department suggested that it be tailored according to the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (BJP’s manifesto for 2022 elections). The list has now been uploaded on the website,” a senior education department official said.

Among others on the list, across classes, are Chandra Shekhar Azad, Birsa Munda, Mangal Pandey, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rani Laxmi Bai, Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji, Lokmanya Tilak, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

(Edited by Smriti Sinha)