Friday, April 15, 2005

Secular Curriculum.

Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology,which is supposed to be the heart and soul of the educational system in Punjab alongwith PEC,Chandigarh finds itself sometimes drawn apart on the matters of secularism and it's curriculum.The recent incident which happened today is a repetition of an old example.
It's 1700 hrs in the evening and time for most of the student to leave for home after a week long extention of their exams.Suddenly comes a notice which mentions that Monday has been declared a Holiday on the occasion of 'Ramnavami'.The sattire associated with this incident is simple.The college knew the date of Ramnavami,since the year beginning,although I don't know which calender they follow,but they prefer one with least holidays,and they don't consult priests before declaring or denouncing a holiday.But more importantly,for the college administration,is to calculations hundreds of linear,simultaneous and quadratic equations to find out out how much loss in syllabus,academics and money are they going to suffer when they call off for holiday all of a sudden,going against their prescribed schedule..and the secrecy of the matter is always always given highest priority for even the Assistant Registrar and the Dean of Academic Affairs pretended that they didn't know about the issue today at 1600 hrs.
No doubt,it's Ramnavami,so they might have fallen into pressure from the 'Hindu' Blocs,coz had this been Eid(as it's coming this 22),they would not have given a second thought in denouncing the day to be a non-holiday,be it the biggest festival of Muslims(we don't have holiday on 22 yet for Eid).
The question comes out here is that the number of Government declared holidays in India for maintaining it to be a secular State is highest in the world.God knows if each and every person of each religion are committed to their respective festivals to this extent or not that they require a day off from work for the worship.However,on the other hand,the Private Organisations and Institutes try to keep them aloof from all such indulgence in heavenly affairs.I would rather like to ask from you,what is the criteria for every Indian to show their association with Secular thought?Should the things be judged in Economical way,like the Private Groups or should they rejoice with all the people of different religion,taking part in each and every festivals of everyone?
I would suggest that social bondage is important.Depriving Indians from their freedom of religion is not going to help in long run.I have found and I firmly belive that religion is something on which almost many people fall back at the end.For quick reference,visit "ISKCON" temple in 'East of Kailash' in New Delhi and meet the devotees.