“Sanskrit is not just a language but contains the essence of our nation, culture and tradition,” said Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, while speaking in the Lower House, which on Thursday cleared the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019.
The Minister also told the House that Feroz Khan, “will continue teaching Sanskrit in BHU”. Mr. Khan was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharam Vigyan at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), this past month, and faced protests by students from the Department, who objected to a Muslim teaching Sanskrit.
Participating in a debate on the Sanskrit Universities Bill, Danish Ali of the Bahujan Samaj Party referred to BHU Assistant Professor Khan, who had been facing a backlash after being appointed to the post in the Sanskrit Department of the varsity.
The Bill seeks to convert three deemed Sanskrit universities presently functioning in the country into Central universities.
Meanwhile, the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill notes that the upgrading of three deemed to be universities in Sanskrit — the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth and the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth Tirupati — into Central universities will enhance the status and will give a boost to postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education and research “in Sanskrit and Shastraic education”.
Assuring the House that his Ministry will work towards promoting all classic languages of the country, starting with Tamil, he said languages were key to our traditions, heritage and culture.
Supporting the Bill, MP A. Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam said: “This is the first time that I am speaking in Tamil in the House. I want to put across the point that every language has its identity and we feel that that through this Bill the government is bringing in a hidden agenda.”
“We will not allow education to be corrupted and the government should not attempt to mix language with religion,” said MP Benny Behanan of the Congress.
