<div dir="ltr"><div id="gmail-header-story" style="margin:0px 0px 25px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;background:url("https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/dailyo//story/header/201906/school-1024_061219054340.jpg") 50% 0%/cover no-repeat;height:340px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px"><div class="gmail-header-inner" style="margin:0px auto;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;width:712px"><h1 style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 10px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:Bitter,serif;font-size:35px;font-weight:400">Skipping The Biggest Lesson: BJP’s draft National Education Policy tries to compete with madrasas, misses crucial learning</h1><h4 style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:18px;font-weight:100;line-height:22px;font-family:Bitter,serif">The policy pays no attention to teaching children the dignity of labour. This lesson is a must though for any society which wants to grow and be developed.</h4></div></div><div id="gmail-middle_container" style="margin:0px auto;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;overflow:hidden;width:998px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px"><div class="gmail-story-middle" style="margin:0px auto;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;clear:both;float:left;width:630px"><div class="gmail-category" style="margin:0px 0px 3px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;font-family:Bitter,serif;color:rgb(98,98,98);font-size:15px"><div class="gmail-spanbredcrumb" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;width:auto;float:left;line-height:21px"><a href="https://www.dailyo.in/voices" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(98,98,98);text-decoration-line:none;text-transform:capitalize"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none">VOICES</span></a></div><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none"> |  5-minute read</span> |   <span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none"><a href="https://www.dailyo.in/date/2019-06-14" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(98,98,98);text-decoration-line:none;text-transform:capitalize">14-06-2019</a></span></div><div class="gmail-user" style="margin:0px;padding:30px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;font-family:Bitter,serif;font-size:12px;color:rgb(42,47,48);text-transform:uppercase"><a href="https://www.dailyo.in/user/14141/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);text-decoration-line:none;float:left"><img src="https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/dailyo/user//201804/kancha-ilaiah-shephe_040518011200.jpg" width="40" height="40" alt="Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd" title="Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd" style="margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; border-radius: 100%; float: left; height: 60px; width: 60px;"><div class="gmail-p_name" style="margin:27px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;float:left;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px">KANCHA ILAIAH SHEPHERD</div></a> <span style="margin:27px 0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(195,198,199);text-transform:lowercase;font-weight:700;float:left;font-family:Georgia,serif"></span></div><div class="gmail-clearfix" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;clear:both"></div><div class="gmail-counter_status_dailyo" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 16px;padding:0px 13px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;float:left;font-family:Roboto;width:107px"><ul style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;list-style-type:none"><li style="margin:0px 5px 0px 0px;padding:0px 5px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px;width:94px;float:left;background:url("images/right_d.jpg") 100% 100% no-repeat"><div class="gmail-cont_sts" style="margin:10px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;width:89px;float:left;text-align:center;line-height:18px;font-family:Bitter,serif"><div class="gmail-hdn_st" id="gmail-shareCountNumber" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;font-weight:700;color:rgb(170,170,170);width:89px;font-size:22px">12</div><div class="gmail-txt_st" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(170,170,170);width:89px;font-size:13px">Total Shares</div></div></li></ul></div><div class="gmail-page-socialshare" style="margin:2px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;display:flex;float:left"><a title="Share on Facebook" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.dailyo.in/voices/national-education-policy-three-language-formula-harappan-civilisation-brahminism-kasturi-rangan/story/1/31094.html" id="gmail-sendfb31094" style="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x; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; max-width: 600px;"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;display:block;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none">Since madrasas teach mainly the Quranic text, it seems the BJP wants to teach only Vedic texts. (Photo: Reuters)</strong></span></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">Both the Hindutva and Islamic ideologues do not want to teach much about science, technology, global history and Indian history tracing its earliest civilisations. The BJP’s proposed framework is that the Indian culture and civilisation are boxed in the Vedic capsule and Dharma and Adharma-related issues found in Hindu epics. For BJP intellectuals, Indian history starts with the writing of Rig Veda.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">In other words, the BJP wants to start teaching our children from the beginning of the pastoral economy, where there was no role of agriculture.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">That culture, civilisation and economy centered on the rishi — but not the shepherd and cattle herder, though economy was based on cattle herding. Tillers of land had no respect in that culture.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">Both for Brahminism and Islamism, the spiritual text is the beginning and the end of history. For both, production-related science of the present and past is irrelevant. The history of India did not start with the writing of the Rig Veda. Production using human labour has a much older history than religious writing and documenting.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">The BJP’s history-writing views history from the prism of a Brahminic viewpoint, which does not recognise the history of the Harappan civilisation for which there is archaeological evidence.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px"><img title="harappan-civilisatio_061219054916.jpg" src="https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/dailyo/story/embed/201906/harappan-civilisatio_061219054916.jpg" alt="harappan-civilisatio_061219054916.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; max-width: 600px;"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;display:block;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none">It all begins here: The Harappan civilisation has many lessons to offer us in terms of how to run an economy. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)</strong></span></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">No nation in the modern world will develop if its young do not learn about the dignity of labour in schools. Caste hierarchies in the country are also institutionalised based on the graded indignity of labour. Any work or technology that is related to leather is seen as most undignified in caste cultural history. But leather processing began during the Harappan civilisation. Leather clothing was the real body protector in those days.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">Take the process of brick-making in the Harappan civilisation. The cities that were built in other parts of the world like Mesopotamia before Harappa had no baked brick. They were built only with mud bricks that were unbaked.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">Is that not our civilisational achievement? We contributed advanced brick-making technology to the world.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">The Harappan civilisation has lessons to offer on the domestication of cattle and maintaining a stock of animals as a food guarantee. The animal economy guaranteed meat and milk and that was a great civilisational achievement of the Indian subcontinent. Wood crafting and stone cutting were arts that had been mastered back then. The construction technology used back then was advanced too. Harappans made advanced bronze tools. Our present tool technology is based on that ancient knowledge. This is called shudra science and technology — but it has not been given value in books that our students read and learn from today.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">These progressive sciences and technologies in varied developed forms are being used even now. The village cattle herder, shepherd, brick-maker and wood cutter are carrying on the Harappan culture and civilisation without any break. This is great Indian science and technology — we must be proud of it.  </p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">Because of the caste system and Brahminism, however, all production tasks are seen as polluted and unworthy.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">How do we change this cultural negativity? Only by teaching the dignity of labour in schools can we overcome this anti-labour attitude.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">But Kasturi Rangan’s draft NEP has no recommendations to include labour-related lessons in the course curricula in modern-day schools.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">The development of India in agriculture, science and technology is based on the respect the nation accords to labour. Historically, the labour class has been made to feel that it is inferior. Their children should not be allowed to live with that feeling. Those who do not work on land think that they are great. Their children also think they are superior.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:8px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;outline:none;color:rgb(86,86,86);font-size:20px;line-height:27px">These attitudes have to change.</p></div></div></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>