RSS ‘expert’ trains DU students in Northeast’s Hindu past as part of orientation for Gyanodaya Express (report in Indian Express

Indian Express

RSS ‘expert’ trains DU students in Northeast’s Hindu past

The train has been to Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the past. (Source: Express archive) The train has been to Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the past. (Source: Express archive)
By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Posted: December 22, 2014 2:21 am

On December 7, two weeks before flagging off of Delhi University’s annual “train of learning”, the Gyanodaya Express, students received orientation from university vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh, dean of colleges Malashri Lal, director of south campus Umesh Rai, a professor from the Northeast and RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal.

In the lecture delivered to a packed audience of students, Gopal spoke extensively on the topic of the Indian “motherland” and its links to the Northeast, focusing on Hindu gods and Hindu freedom fighters, one of who “fought against conversion of Hindus to Christianity”.

University officials said the choice of destination — the Northeastern states — was influenced by a letter from the Human Resource Ministry and the prime minister’s message seeking a new connection with the Northeast. But the invitation to RSS’s Gopal was on account of him being an “expert in matters of the Northeast”.

Gopal, who comes from Mathura, oversaw RSS work in Assam and Mizoram as regional organiser for about nine years before being appointed as RSS joint general secretary earlier this year. Sources in the university told Newsline that since his appointment, Gopal has delivered four such lectures in different colleges and institutes.

Confirming that the official did indeed deliver the lectures, a senior university official said, “We invited him because he is an expert in matters of the Northeast. On December 7, he talked about how all Indian states are part of one motherland and how cultural linkages are strengthened by blood relations.”

Students at the pre-trip lectures also spoke about the special emphasis given to visiting temples wherever they go. “We have been asked to visit as many temples as possible,” Rinki Sinha, a second-year student of Kalindi College, said. For example, students visiting Assam will go to Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Umanand Temple Island, Shiva temple at Barpeta Satra, the student added.

According to the travelling students, RSS’s Gopal spoke extensively on India’s cultural ties to Northeast. “He said Lord Krishna’s wife Rukmani belonged to an Arunachal tribe. And that Brahmaputra was created by Brahma to solve a tiff between Krishna and Shiva,” Santosh, a student from ARSD College who attended the lecture, said.

“Then there was the story of the valiant Naga woman freedom fighter, Rani Gaidinliu, who fought against conversion of Hindus to Christianity,” Gopal is reported to have said in a lecture. The RSS had recently demanded national honour for Gaidinliu on her hundredth birth anniversary this year.

Officials said the decision to go to the Northeast was inspired by the PM’s wishes. “We had received a message from the ministry (of HRD) to focus on the Northeast as part of the PM’s overall policy to connect with the Northeast,” Professor Chandreshekhar, who is responsible for organising the trip, told Newsline.

Around 600 students from different colleges of the university began the train journey on Thursday that will end on December 29. The project selection committee has 56 projects in all. Apart from projects to track roots of the region, study of history, myths and folklore have also been given importance.

The Gyanodaya project is an initiative of Dinesh Singh. In the five years it has been running, the train has travelled to Punjab, Maharashtra-Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

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