Imposition of Sanskrit a Nagpur conspiracy: Assamese groups

Two days after the Assam cabinet decided to make Sanskrit a compulsory subject in schools, several social and students groups and political parties on Thursday vocally opposed the move and termed it as a "conspiracy planned, managed and monitored from Nagpur" -- where the RSS is headquartered.

Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) came out against imposition of Sanskrit as a compulsory subject till Class 8 in all schools, and alleged it was "a well orchestrated conspiracy".

"The AJYCP is not opposed to Sanskrit in the schools since it is the ancient language, which needs to be promoted and preserved in the schools and colleges. But we do express grave concern over the way the government is in the process to impose the subject in a haste," said AJYCP President Biraj Kumar Talukdar on Thursday.

"The decision is too premature in view of the shortage of teaching staffs in hundreds of schools and many of these schools have been running with just one teacher," he said.

Talukdar questioned the intention behind the move when many schools across the state have been falling short of staff and thousands of TET (Teachers' Eligibility Test) qualified youths have been waiting for appointment.

"Where the government will get so many Sanskrit teachers to be recruited? This is not unknown to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The conspiracy is being micro-managed from New Delhi and Nagpur," he said, implying a hand of the BJP government at the Centre and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh behind the decision.

"Lack of Sanskrit teachers in home state would force the government to hire thousands of teachers from outside Assam," he added.

All Assam Students' Union (AASU) General Secretary Lurin Jyoti Gogoi condemned the move to impose Sanskrit in Assam's schools and said that it would have a negative impact on the students.

"According to the three-language formula, students in Assam study three languages, including their mother tongue. Now imposition of Sanskrit on them would be a burden and it would impact their educational psychology," said Gogoi.

Thinker and intellectual Hiren Gohain also slammed the state government move and said that it is the first step to saffronisxe the education system in Assam. "The decision to impose Sanskrit is not a good one and it would impact the children negatively," Gohain said.

--IANS

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