By Inder Jit
(Released on 16 November 1976)
Pointed attention has at long last been directed to a vital but neglected aspect of our life and well-being: national character. Speaking at a New Delhi congregation to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of building a strong national character and said that this was what the country needed more than anything else today. What Mrs Gandhi added was not only candid but went to the heart of the matter. She said that some success had been achieved in the battle against poverty but no achievement would be complete if national character was lacking. Mrs Gandhi’s timely assertion recalls what our philosopher-statesman, Sarvapali Radhakrishnan, emphasised time and again. Civilization, he said, is not built with brick and mortar, steel and machinery. It is built with men and women, their quality and character.
A question which we all must ask ourselves is: What kind of an Indian has freedom produced? Is he better or worse than what he was before independence? Freedom — that magic password of the revolutionary generation — was to be the key to all growth. Much undoubtedly has been achieved in the economic and social spheres, especially in the short span since the proclamation of emergency. India today enjoys, materially speaking, a position of respect abroad as never before. What is more, a sea change has taken place in the national morale and self-confidence. But has the soul of India, suppressed for centuries, found utterance as expected? Or are we joining what Yehudi Momuhin described on the occasion of receiving the Nehru Award in New Delhi some years ago as the “suicide gallop” of the West. Is India losing its soul in the rat race for material progress?
Mahatma Gandhi struggled hard and patiently to put back into us some character, debased by centuries of slavery. But within a decade or so we lost much of what we had gained in the pursuit of power and material progress. Conscious of the slide-back, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke repeatedly and fervently during his last few years of the importance of investment in man. Alongside, Rajendra Prasad as India’s first President bemoaned the growing crisis of character and made a bold hid to stem the rot with the assertion: Yatha Raia, Tatha Praia. To him, the character at the top level in New Delhi was not enough. Even more important, as he pointed out, was the manner in which Congressmen and leading publicmen conducted themselves in the States — from the Chief Ministers down to the officials at the grassroots who, too, tried to strut about and function as little Mughals.
Great thinkers and philosophers the world over have more or less been faced with a similar predicament throughout history. More than two thousand years ago, Plato lamented: “What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders. They disobey their parents. They ignore the laws. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?” Fortunately, the situation in India is vastly improved, following the emergency. The students are actually in their classrooms – and not out on the streets. However, this by itself is not enough. Character cannot be built overnight. Specific and sustained efforts have to be made from an early stage. Our educational institutions and youth centres have to become the nurseries of character-building even as we remember the timeless injunction that the young take their cue from the alders.
A retrospect, Nehru set up in 1959 a high-power committee to report on the need for moral and religious instruction in educational institutions. It was headed by Mr. Sri Prakasa, then Governor of Maharashtra and formerly a Union Minister. The other eminent members were Dr. G.C. Chatterji, Mr. A.A.A. Fyazee and Mr. Prem Kripal, Member-Secretary, who later became Union Education Secretary. The Committee strongly recommended “the deliberate inculpation of moral and spiritual values from the earliest years of our lives.” It felt that the teaching of moral and spiritual values should include a cooperative and sympathetic study of the lives and teachings of great religious leaders and, at later stages, their ethical systems and philosophies. The Committee endorsed the Radhakrishnan Commission’s recommendation that work in all educational institutions should start every day with a few minutes of silent meditation in the classroom or in a common hall. It finally cautioned that “if we lose these values we shall be a nation without a soul…”
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said that some success had been achieved in the battle against poverty but no achievement would be complete if national character was lacking.
Much undoubtedly has been achieved in the economic and social spheres, especially in the short span since the proclamation of emergency. India today enjoys, materially speaking, a position of respect abroad as never before. What is more, a sea change has taken place in the national morale and self-confidence. But has the soul of India, suppressed for centuries, found utterance as expected?… Is India losing its soul in the rat race for material progress?
Subsequently, as many as five Central committees emphasised in their reports that provision should be made for the teaching of moral and spiritual values in educational institutions. Each of those reports was accepted by the Union Government and recommendations of all the committees were forwarded to the State Governments, Union territories and universities for implementation. What the States or institutions did in the matter is largely unknown. Since education is a State subject the Union Education Ministry could not go beyond referring the recommendations to the State authorities. Likewise the University Grants Commission also could not force implementation on the universities which are autonomous bodies. However, the Union Government is known to have raised the subject several times at the conference of Education Ministers and Vice Chancellors and urged them to give it high priority.
All this is not to say that nothing is being done about moral and ethical values anywhere. In New Delhi’s leading public institution, Modern School, for instance, the students are taught something more than mere formal religion. The Principal, who subscribes to the view that we have moved from the world of bhakti to the world of questioning or gyan yug, addresses a morning assembly after the students have sung a community song. The talk is usually on a “Thought for the Day” from Mahatma Gandhi or from the saying of other great people or from the scriptures of one of the religions. Experience of the school authorities shows that this has helped the boys and girls to think for themselves especially because the thought is brought down to their own level of understanding and not served as an abstract concept. What is more, it brings in a subtle way to the minds of the students an appreciation of values, ethical and moral.
As many as five Central committees emphasised in their reports that provision should be made for the teaching of moral and spiritual values in educational institutions. Each of those reports was accepted by the Union Government and recommendations of all the committees were forwarded to State Governments, Union territories and universities for implementation.
During my visit to Arunachal Pradesh, I was greatly impressed by the emphasis on character-building at the three schools run by the Ramakrishnan and Sarada Missions at Along, Deomali and Khonsa. The students begin and end their day in what is called the universal prayer hall, which displays not only the portraits of Ramakrishnan and the Buddha but also of Christ, Guru Nanak and Zoroaster. In keeping with Swami Vivekananda’s teaching, the boys are taught the basic oneness sof the world’s religions and the schools celebrate Christmas Eve as much as the birth anniversary of Ramakrishnan. Incidentally, the boys and girls also take the following pledge each morning which promotes a sense of national integration and unity: “I am an Indian. India is my country. The Indian is my brother. The Indian is my life. The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good.”
The neglect of moral education has created vagueness and indiscipline in the minds of the people. We have now a society where every man by and large is for himself. The vicious circle needs to be broken and broken fast. We must take care of today for a better tomorrow.
At any rate, it should now be possible to get the reports of the Sri Prakasa and other Central committees implemented with required modifications before long since education is proposed to be moved from the State list to the Concurrent list under the Constitution (Fortyfourth Amendment) Bill, renumbered as Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Bill. We must lay emphasis not only on the three R’s but also on the big fourth R – religious or moral education. We must also think in terms of bringing out intelligently in a good volume for students the essentials of various religions. The neglect of moral education has created vagueness and indiscipline in the minds of the people. We have now a society where every man by and large is for himself. The vicious circle needs to be broken and broken fast. We must take care of today for a better tomorrow. – INFA