Indian State Says It’ll Require Study of Sanskrit, Raising Eyebrows
By AYESHA VENKATARAMANMARCH 3, 2017
MUMBAI, India — The government of the northeastern Indian state of Assam announced this week
that Sanskrit, the ancient Hindu language of the Brahmin priesthood, would now be mandatory for students in the upper grades of all public high schools.
Mr. Sarma said that So we want to make history and geography separate subjects in the school, but the government is not doing anything about it.
The decision to make Sanskrit mandatory applies to public school students in eighth through 10th grade,
but the requirement will eventually be extended to primary schools, said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s education minister.
Kamrul Islam Chaudhary, a secretary with the National Students’ Union of India from Assam, said
that few teachers in the state were capable of teaching Sanskrit, and that outside instructors would have to be hired.
"The government is still working it out, and when it happens, it will come out as a good package." But some, like Mr. Chaudhary of the National Students’ Union, challenged
that view and questioned the state government’s intent.
Mr. Chaudhary called the Sanskrit requirement "a ploy" to insert "ideologues into every school," referring in particular
to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu right-wing group closely affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.