The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘British destroyed Indianness of the country’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘British destroyed Indianness of the country’

Bangalore Bureau

Sudarshan attacks the Macaulay system of education introduced in India

— K. Murali Kumar

Right tunes: Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh taking part in the valedictory function of ‘Ghosh’ in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: “Whoever wins (the polls), should do good work.”

This was how Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K.S. Sudarshan on Tuesday reacted to the victory of the BJP in Gujarat in the Assembly polls.

Responding to queries by presspersons after the valedictory function of the three-day “Ghosh” (traditional martial band) camp of the Karnataka southern regional unit of the RSS at the Jayanagar stadium in Bangalore, Mr. Sudarshan said: “Everybody is happy (with the poll results) and we are also happy.”

He desisted from replying to questions related to politics, and said: “we do not comment on the day-to-day political affairs.”

Addressing the valedictory function, Mr. Sudarshan attacked the Macaulay system of education introduced by the British in India.

He alleged that the British had introduced such a system only to destroy the Indianness of the country.

Values

While the country and Hinduism believed in values like universal brotherhood and oneness, the educational system, introduced by the British, had nothing to do with such values which formed the essence of humanity, the RSS chief said.

He alleged that introduction of such an educational system was a ploy by the British to alienate Indians from their own ancient intellectual asset.

Earlier, the Ghosh band of the RSS southern regional unit of Karnataka enthralled the audience with their traditional tunes as well as formations.

As many as 2,854 instrumentalists from the southern districts of Karnataka took part in the programme.

A large number of people turned up to watch the event.

The RSS Ghosh band has replaced the English names of instruments with Indian names.

The Indian names of the instruments were introduced to the audience on the occasion.

Route march

Members of the RSS Ghosh band took out two separate route marches in Jayanagar before arriving at the stadium for displaying their skills.

While one band started from the MES playground and passed through Vijaya Bank and Byarasandra Main Road to reach the stadium, the other began its march from Rani Saraladevi School and reached the stadium by passing through the Madhavan Park circle.

Supporters of RSS had put up flags and festoons along the two routes.

They also showered flower petals on the marchers while some of them had drawn rangolis on the roads to welcome the route march.

The march was led by those playing flutes, drums and other instruments.

A group of students who dressed themselves like B.R. Ambedkar, Lala Lajpat Rai and several freedom fighters followed them.

Traffic affected

Movement of traffic was affected for a while at places such as Ashoka Pillar Circle and Madhavan Park Circle. There were other intersections along the route where the vehicular movement was stopped for some time to allow the route march.

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