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Learning
in Saffron: RSS Schools in Orissa
by
Angana Chatterji
Dissident
Voice
November 13, 2003
In
Orissa, over the last five years the Sangh Parivar's tentacles have spread and
thickened. Minorities, refugees, and the poor -- the social crevices in which
they live narrow from neglect. The disenfranchised struggle to confront social
violence. The annexation of territory and resources from the subaltern, the
imposition of virulent ideologies and alienating economies, have produced
diverse identity politics defining contested practices of citizenship. At the
intersections of globalization and hyper nationalism, Hindutva intervenes,
unravelling the fragile fabric of democracy.
The
communalization of education is a serious concern across India. Sectarian
education campaigns undertaken by Hindu extremist groups demonize minorities
through the teaching of fundamentalist curricula. Such corruption of education
incites the political and social fires of communalism. The RSS has spearheaded
the movement, successfully penetrating into the educational systems of both the
grassroots and centralized regulatory commissions. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) has fashioned an institutional umbrella that is having a damaging
impact on education at the grassroots. The RSS has established Vanvasi Kalyan
Parishads, Vivekananda Kendras, Sewa Bharatis and other groups to advance the
ideological agenda of Hindu nationalism. The RSS administers 9,300 Ekal
Vidyalayas in adivasi areas. For the diversity of cultures allied under the
rubric of 'adivasi', the ongoing reality of Hinduization offers evidence of
their gradual and brutal incorporation into this caste system.
Created
by the RSS in 1978, the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan network
focuses on moral, extracurricular and physical education for 'mind, body and
spirit'. The Vidya Bharati system supervises over 18,000 schools across India,
with 1.8 million students and 80,000 teachers. A shared curriculum is used
across the country. The Vidya Bharati operates 60 graduate institutions. About
5,000 Vidya Bharatis are endorsed by Education Boards primarily in states where
the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power..
Known
as Shiksha Vikas Samiti, Vidya Bharati directs 391 Saraswati Shishu Mandir
schools with 111,000 students in Orissa. The RSS has constructed a network of
educational institutions across the state. Initially the RSS maintained a
public distance between the Sangh and Vidya Bharati. In recent years, as
Hindutva consolidates its position in Orissa, the RSS has actively declared its
affiliation with these schools. Rashtra Deepa, the RSS Oriya weekly, regularly
chronicles some of the academic aspirations of the Sangh Parivar. Most RSS run
schools are affiliated with the State Board of Education and adhere to the
state approved curricula. As the Sangh infiltrates into regulatory bodies and
actively leads the rewriting of textbooks and reorganization of the curriculum,
the classroom transforms into an agent of Hindutva.
With
the increasing impetus on the privatization of education, the RSS has been
actively inaugurating schools in areas across Orissa where the government fails
to provide public funding. The vigorous assertion of Sanskrit provides for the
erasure and Hinduization of minority languages. History, science, geography,
literature, religious texts are interpreted into Hindutva. These texts, written
in Oriya, are taught in schools and available in bookstores. The texts weave
disparaging and malevolent fictions about minority groups, inciting Hindus to
revenge history. The curriculum is censored and obscurantist, interpreted to
legitimate the sanctity of a 'Hindu worldview' in India and the assembling of a
Hindu state. It enables Hindu nationalism in advancing 'righteous' violence for
ethnic cleansing. The RSS broadcasts this education as 'holistic', patriotic
and accessible.
These
schools are financed by individual donations and contributions from various
charitable organizations such as the Mumbai based Bhansali Trust. These schools
also offer income generation and computer skills. They serve as gathering
places for Sangh organizations providing youth contact with Hindutva leaders.
Parents say they are drawn to RSS run schools because they are affordable and
profess to educate children in culture and religion, history and ritual.
Students
receive ideological training through extra-curricular activity as well. They
participate in development work and disaster relief, politicizing education and
linking it to social service. An RSS worker in Bhubaneswar speaks with pride.
"We ask people to devote one hour a day for their country, in the name of
the motherland. To gather in a field and play Indian games; with sticks,
swords, other exercises, teach youth to march, some musical instruments. And
then we workers discuss the ideology of the RSS -- what Hinduism is, how Hindu
culture was great and how it is fading, how the youth must become involved to
revive and purify it."
Through
regular educational camps, he continues, the RSS recruits teachers and
campaigners. Their task is to draw people to the Sangh. "To convince
people that the country is in danger, the motherland is in danger. To tell
people that no matter who they are, if they return to Hinduism there is place
for them in the nation." After training, RSS state and district units send
campaigners to serve within the different wings of the Sangh Parivar, and to
the rural areas to recruit and organize the Sangh cadre.
The
RSS holds month long training sessions across Orissa during summer vacations to
attract students and young children. From these sessions, the RSS recruits for
the Officers Training Camps (OTC). Held twice a year, the OTC provides
schooling in self-defense and leadership. Around 500 people attend each year.
On completion, approximately100 join the organization as campaigners. Graduates
take an oath, "I will devote my body, mind, and money (tana, mana, bhana)
to the motherland." For about 10 recruits, this develops into a lifelong,
intense and full time commitment. Each December, the RSS organizes the Sita
Shibir, a 7-10 day winter camp. The families of attendees finance the camps.
The growth of the RSS testifies to the success of these camps. The RSS boasts
of 50,000 shakhas in India, 2500 in Orissa with a 100,000 strong cadre.
In
Orissa, the RSS charges that aggressive Hinduization is a 'rational' and
warranted response to, among other factors, the growth of missionary activity
leading to an increase in the Christian population. In fact, Christians
constitute less than 3 percent of the population in the state, with a 1 percent
increase since 1981. The Christian population in India does not record any
appreciable increase from 2.6 percent in 1971, to 2.43 in 1981, 2.34 in 1991,
and 2.6 in 2001.
History
is animated through extra curricular activities, seminars and workshops. New
heroes, timelines, events emerge to construct India's antiquity, to naturalize
her geo-political borders, to define her heritage as Hindu. History is
rewritten to determine belonging and un-belonging. Difference is represented as
'other', a threat to the integrity of India as a Hindu nation, unless
manipulated and straitjacketed. A whole new generation is being grown
indoctrinated in Hindutva. It is a devious strategy to teach hate to the young.
Note:
Information used in this article is derived from multiple sources, including
interviews with persons affiliated with Sangh organisations.
Angana
Chatterji is a professor of Social and Cultural
Anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco (http://www.ciis.edu/faculty/chatterji.htm). Email: Angana@aol.com
* Orissa: A
Gujarat in the Making
* State
Repression in the Narmada Valley
* Under
Siege in the Narmada Valley