Not only education, entire country will be saffronized, says Smriti Irani's deputy

Lucknow, Jun 20: Not only education, but the entire country will be saffronized by the union government, according to Ram Shankar Katheria, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development.

Mr. Katheria was speaking on Saturday at the Hindavi Swaraj Diwas Samaroh, marking the 342nd coronation year of Maratha warrior-king Shivaji. Sharing the dais with the Minister was Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik who presided over the function at Lucknow University.

The Agra MP said: “Some journalists ask if we are we are promoting saffronisation of education. I am saying, yes, there will be saffronisation of education and of the country. Jo acha hoga, woh hoga (Whatever is good for the country will certainly happen) be it saffronisation or sanghwaad ( propagation of the RSS ideology).”

Elaborating on the theme, Mr. Katheria said the need of the hour is to create a curriculum that would increase the nation's samman (honour) and swabhimaan (self-respect) in the world. “We kept silent for such a long time and never accused anybody. But today the circumstances in the country are such.”

"We have been seeing this for a long time... Whatever is in the interest of the country, for the benefit of the country, on the basis of which the nation can stand with pride in the world, should it not be made part of the syllabus or should it not been taught to our children," he said.

Mr Katheria said people like Shivaji inspired India's independence. The minister also claimed that India's history had been "tailored" to suit the "tastes of a few people" and called it "India's greatest misfortune".

"If students do not read about Maharana Pratap or Shivaji, will they then read about Ghengis Khan," he asked.

He called seeing "sacrifices of national leaders" in a political light, "a growing disease" in the country. "Ambedkar is seen as the personal property of one party, or of Dalits. In fact, Ambedkar is not just an ideal leader and nationalist for the country, but for the entire world," he said.

Remembering the contributions of leaders in the freedom struggle, Mr Katheria said they lived their lives for humanity and welfare of the nation.