Author: Staff Reporter
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 21, 2005
Delhi BJP president Dr Harshvardhan
criticised Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for forcing children to learn
only about Sonia and Nehru.
Mentioning about the circular which
has been issued to schools in Delhi by the Education Directorate, Dr Harshvardhan
called it a misuse of system. Five books have been mentioned in the circular,
four of which were authored by Jawahar Lal Nehru and one by Congress president
Sonia Gandhi.
Schools have been allegedly asked
to buy Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, An Autobiography
of Jawaharlal Nehru and Letter from a Father to his Daughter - all authored
by the first Prime Minister - and Sonia Gandhi's Two Alone Two Together
for their libraries.
Dr Harshvardhan said schools have
been directed to buy three sets of these books costing about Rs 10,000.
When there is already a scarcity of textbooks in schools libraries, it
is a misuse of government money and the Congress is forcing the concerned
officers to issue orders for children to read such books, he added.
"The ruling Congress is forcing
children to gain knowledge about the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, about Ms Sonia
Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. Why are schools not being told to get books written
by numerous great writers and scholars like Swami Vivekanand, Maharishi
Dayanand Saraswati, Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia?" he asked.
Dr Harshvardhan also accused the
Delhi Government of misusing its powers by asking schools to buy books
authored by the party chief and her husband's grandfather. Mentioning about
the changes made by former Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar
Joshi, he said the Congress and Left parties had propagated against the
needful changes made by him even as the Supreme Court approved it. When
in power at the Centre, the BJP had come under fire from the Congress and
Left parties, which accused it of saffronising education.
Terming the whole exercise as a
way to please the Congress president, Dr Harshvardhan said "in order to
make her image better in the eyes of Sonia Gandhi, first she changed the
textbooks saying that it was partly saffronised. And after that she authorised
low grade books to pollute and poisoned the mind of innocent children".
Demanding an enquiry into the whole
case, Dr Harshvardhan said the BJP would strongly oppose it and that the
circular should be withdrawn immediately.
