KOCHI: The curriculum in the universities should be rewritten for the well-being of the country and protection of the national ethos. This view was expressed by the speakers at a seminar on ‘Nationalism; Changing perception and new challenges’ held to mark the 90th birthday celebrations of prominent RSS ideologue and founder of Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram P. Parameswaran here on Saturday. They said academics influenced by new Left perspectives were misleading the students. Mr Prasanna Deshpande, assistant professor of Fergusson College, Pune, accused the new liberals of intruding into the university campuses in the garb of cultural studies.
Inspired by new Left thinkers of the Frankfurt school for the spread of cultural studies, these scholars were sowing the seeds of destruction of cultural nationalism with their grip on universities, he said. “We have a terrible situation by which non-Indian categories are being used to define what is Indian,” he said. Former union minister Sanjay Paswan stated that a conscious effort was on to instill an irrational fear amongst the dalits in the country. Stressing the need for creating the intellectual space to overcome the caste prejudices, he said the dalit and minority sections of society needed to be rescued from the fear trap created by vested interests.
Dr Vijay Bhatkar, chancellor, Nalanda University, said India would become a developed nation when knowledge seekers from all parts of the world flock to its universities. The two-day seminar sessions on nationalism, development and environment will see presentations by a slew of RSS ideologues and others. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the valedictory session on Sunday. The two-day Navati celebrations is named ‘National Resurgence; Vision and Mission.’
