Press Release: Letter re Unesco award to official who undid India's secular syllabi

Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 04:35:55 +0200
To: sacw@sacw.net
From: sacw
Subject: Press Release: Letter re Unesco award to educator who undid India's secular syllabi
Cc: spokesperson@unesco.org , i.le-fournis@unesco.org, c.darmouni@unesco.org


For immediate international release on behalf of the Anhad (Act Now for Harmony) based in India.

PRESS RELEASE
Expression of grave concern at the nomination for an award by UNESCO of a former Indian official who steered the process of falsification of history texts for school education and undermining India's secular school syllabi etc.

23 July 2004

The following letter has been faxed earlier today to the Director General of UNESCO.

ANHAD
4, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001
Tel-23327366/ 67
E-mail: anhadinfo@yahoo.co.in

July 23, 2004

Mr. Koichiro Matsuura
The Director General
UNESCO
7, Place de Fontenoy
75352 PARIS 07 SP, France

Dear Mr. Koichiro Matsuura,
                                             
We are appalled to hear about your decision to award Mr JS Rajput, former Director NCERT, India, with the Jan Amos Comenius Medal for outstanding achievements in the fields of educational research and innovation.

The last five years have seen a systematic destruction of the secular foundations of the Indian polity. The most grave of these was the subversion of the liberal and progressive character of the Indian educational system. From single teacher primary para-schools in rural and tribal hamlets to the highest institutions of teaching and research in the land, none were left untouched. History was distorted to evoke a false and politically motivated vision of our syncretic past and culture, the values that illuminated our freedom struggle were sought to be extinguished, and both overtly and subliminally minorities were demonised and gender, caste and fascist prejudices and stereotypes deliberately fostered.

Lakhs [Hundreds of thousands] of Indian students over the past few years were subjected to deliberate mischief and misrepresentation of facts about our history. Textbooks were changed to contain twisted facts, portions were deleted. Facts like Nathu Ram Godse, a Hindu fanatic assassinated Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi did not find a mention in the IX standard textbook. Instead of building a scientific temper amongst the young students, concerted efforts were made to introduce retrogressive ideologies. Universities were forced to start courses in astrology.

The people who were leading this campaign were Mr JS Rajput under the guidance of [India's] former Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi. 

We are shocked that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was unaware of the developments that were taking place in India. Every national daily and television channel reported it extensively over the past five years.

We appeal to you to reconsider your decision.

With greetings,
Yours Sincerely

Shabnam Hashmi KN Panikkar Prof. Harsh Mander
leading social activist Vice Chancellor leading social activist, writer
Mobile-9811807558 

ALSO SIGNED BY OVER 280 STUDENTS
STUDENTS
S.NO Name Class Age
1 Aanchal Anand BA 18
2 Aarushi 10th 15
3 Aastha Gulati 12th 17
4 Aban Raza 10th
5 Abheek Chimni 12th 17
6 Abhinayaa C 10th 15
7 Adeel Arif 11th 16
8 Aditi Vajpeyi 11th 16
9 Aditya Changavalli 10th 15
10 Aditya Meduri 12th 17
11 Aditya Verma 12th 17
12 Aiman Anis 12th 17
13 Ajita Vidyarthi Passed 12th
14 Akansha Baijal 10th 15
15 Akhila Issac 8th 13
16 Akshay S 10th 15
17 Ambalika Khadria III Year 20
18 Amitabh Kumar BA 20
19 Amol Saghar 11th 16
20 Amusha 10th 15
21 Anand Virmain 12th 16
22 Ananya Doda 10th 15
23 Anchal Anand III Year 18
24 Anjali Shanmugham MSW, 2nd Semester 19
25 Anjana Issac 10th 15
26 Ankur Sengupta IInd yr 19
27 Ann Umneliya 10th 15
28 Anna Shipilova 12th 17
29 Antony
30 Anuj Bawa BA 19
31 Anuj Lamba 12th 17
32 Anuja Singh 12th 17
33 Anurita Ghosh
34 Anusha Balakrishnan 12th 17
35 Anwar-ul Har IInd yr 19
36 Aparna Dang 11th 16
37 Aprajita Nainan Passed 12th 17
38 Arastu Jowher 12th
39 Arjun Dhawan 10th 15
40 Arjun Gupta 12th 14
41 Arun A. 10th 15
42 Ashan Azmi 12th 16
42 Ashish
43 Ashwin
44 Atsala Shourie 12th 16
45 Avil Kumar
46 Ayesha Hassanwalia
47 Azhar Anis
48 Barkha Tanvir 11th
49 Bhavik Raja
50 Bint Abbas 12th
51 Blessi K. Paul 9th
52 Chinju K. 8th
53 Deep Raishan IInd yr
54 Deepika S 10th
55 Divya Malhotra IV Year
56 Divya R. Raj MSW, 4th Semester
57 Divyeta Goel II Year 18
58 Faiz Raza II year 19
59 Felice Victor II nd yr
.60 Fauzia Naqvi. 21
61 Fr. Norvi MSW 21
62 Garima Gupta Final Year
63 Gunjan Andlay
64 Hafiz Muhammed MSW, 2nd Semester
65 Harshita Vidyashankar 11th 16
66 Ila Bose 11th 16
67 Imran
68 Jackson Jacob 8th 13
69 Jackson Peter 8th 13
70 Jatin Sharma IInd yr 19
71 Jaydeep 11th 15
72 Jinto Varghese 10th 15
73 Joby MSW, 2nd Semester. 19
74 Joseph MSW, 4th Semester 20
75 Justine Joseph 8th 13
76 Kabir Chandra I year 18
77 Kajri Akhtar 11th 16
78 Kakul Fatima Final Year 20
79 Kameshwaran 8th 13
80 Kamla Murali 10th 15
81 Kamna Ramakrishnan Final Year 20
82 Kanak Sood 11th 16
83 Kanthi 10th 15
84 Kanush Dhawan 11th 15
85 Karan Saini 11th 16
86 Karthik
87 Kashif Ali IInd yr
88 Kavita Saini 12th 17
89 Kavita Surana II Year 18
90 Khurram Khan Final Year
91 Koshika Yadav II year 19
92 Kriti Pant 12th 17
93 Krutika Bopanna 10th 15
94 Kumar
95 Kunal Chawla 10th 15
96 Laasya Murthi IV Year 20
97 Lakshmi Passed 12th 17
98 Liya 10th 15
99 Lori Gupta 12th 17
100 MA Adil 20
101 Manish IInd yr 19
102 Mansa Kumar IIIrd yr 20
103 Mary Signie MSW, 4th Semester 20
104 Maulik Pathak
105 Md Yawar Hussain 20
106 Megha Kumar Final Year 20
107 Mithula Naik 10th
108 Mohit Rewal 20
109 Monika Nautiyal IInd yr 20
110 Moyna Manku III yr 20
111 Muhammed Sabir MSW, 4th Semester
112 Naman
113 Namrata Bhatter 11th
114 Nancy
115 Nandita Gupta 12th 17
116 Nazeef Mollah 11th 16
117 Neethu P. Issac 8th 13
118 Neha Dwivedi Final Year 20
119 Neha Juneja III Year 20
120 Nidhiya Varghese 8th 13
121 Nimisha K.S. 8th 13
122 Nimmi Joy 8th 13
123 Nitya Gupta 11th 16
124 Nitya Nambiar 12th 17
125 Noor Enayat Final Year 20
126 Nouphal 9th 15
127 Pankaj Mahendra Nikale
128 Panna Ratra 12th 17
129 Paritosh Dayal
130 Pavithra K.V 10th
131 Pinto MSW
132 Prakash
133 Pranav Mago 12th 17
134 Pratamp Shah 10th
135 Prerna 11th 16
136 Priya George 8th 13
137 Priyam 12th 17
138 Priyamvada Kant 11th 16
139 R. R. Saumya 12th 17
140 Rachel John 12th
141 Rachit Aggarwal 12th 17
142 Rachna Nigam II Year 18
143 Raghav Aggarwal
144 Rahul Arora 12th 17
145 Rajesh 10th 15
146 Ratan K 10th 15
147 Renu
148 Ricki
149 Riddhesh Surati
150 Rincy Joseph 10th
151 Rishabh Kapoor 12th 17
152 Ritu IInd yr
153 Riyaz B 10th
154 Rizwan 11th 16
155 Rohini Rangarajan II Year 19
156 Ropal Bhattacharya Final Year
157 Ruchna Nigam II yr 19
158 Ruth Saldana II yr 18
159 Saba Grewal II yr 19
160 Saba Joshi
161 Saeed Ahmed 9th 16
162 Sahir Raza 12th 17
163 Salonee Parikh
164 Samar Grewal II yr 20
165 Sambhav Dehl
166 Sambuddha Bhattacharya 12th 17
167 Samyukta P.C 10th 15
168 Sana Hashmi Final Year 19
169 Sandeep Final Year 27
170 Sandesh Pawar
171 Sania Hashmi II yr 20
172 Santosh 10th 15
173 Sarah Hashmi 11th 15
174 Sarang Sena 12th 17
175 Saumya Jain 12th 17
176 Saurabh Chaudhary 12th 17
177 Seher Tara Kidwai 9th 16
178 Shabin Paul Final yr, MSW 20
179
180 Shahana Goswami 12th 17
181 Sharon Paul 8th 13
182 Shashwat Sharma
183 Sheena Sanam III yr 20
184 Shikha Ghai 12th 17
185 Shikha John 12th 17
186 Shilpa Babu 8th 13
187 Shinu Varghese 9th 15
188 Shirali S 10th 15
189 Shivani Chauhan MSW 20
190 Shruti II Year 18
191 Sibi A 12th 17
192 Siddharth Aryan 12th 17
193 Sijina 9th 15
194 Sonalika Rellan 12th 17
195 Sr. Moly MSW 20
196 Sreejith M.S. 8th 13
197 Sruti Menon 10th 15
198 Sukhman Final Year 19
199 Sumeet Popli II yr 19
200 Sumit
201 Sunit Kaul IInd Yr 19
202 Suroor Mander IInd yr 19
203 Swapna A. MSW, 4th Semester 20
204 Swapnil Gupta 12th 17
205 Swati Ravindran 10th 15
206 Tanmay Kumar Final Year 20
207 Swati Chawla II Year 19
208 Tanveer MBA 20
209 Tanya Ahuja Passed 12th 17
210 Tanya Satsanghi II yr 19
211 Tarini C Barthomolew 11th 16
212 Tomy Jacob MSW, 4th Semester 20
213 Trinanjan Radhakrishnan 12th 17
214 Tushar Gupta II Year 19
215 Uday Dass 11th 16
216 Uday Raj Anand 12th 17
217 Uttara Balkrishnan 10th 14
218 Vanya Bhargava 11th 16
219 Ved Vyas Tripathi 12th 17
220 Vedika Khanna 11th 16
221 Vidhi Gupta Post Grad 23
222 Vidya 10th 15
223 Vikas Trivedi IInd yr 19
234 Vikas Veerwal 12 17
235 Vineesh MSW, 2nd Semester 19
236 Vineesh MSW 19
237 Viraj Nair 12th 17
238 Vrinda 11th 16
239 Yaseen 11th 16
240 Smritima Lama 12th 17
241 Priyanka Singh II yr 21
242 Neha Singh III yr 21
243 Mandira Singh III year 21
244 Rishabh Bali II year 19
245 Aditya Gupta 12th 17
246 Jobin Bir Singh 12th 17
247 Rajbeer Batra 12th 17
248 Kanika Mayar 12th 17
249 Sudin Nagpal 12th 17
250 Shefali Pasicha 12th 17
251 Kritika Nag 12th 17
252 Pratibha Nag 12th 17
253 Sanjana Malik 12th 17
254 Divya Kishan 12th 17
255 Varun Ahuja III yr 21
256 Divya Berry 12th 17
257 Mukta Tripathy III yr 21
258 Salman Usmani II yr 19
259 Sameera Haq II yr 19
260 Imran Khan Graduate 21
261 Mirajuddin Khan Graduate 23
262 Ahmar Hasan Graduate 23
263 Anjala Jamal III yr 22
264 Teerna Khurana 12th 17
265 Rahul Roy 12th 17
266 Tanvi Mishra 12th 17
267 Uzma Mollah Graduate 21
268 Amol Bhatt 12th 17
269 Omar Bin Aziz Graduate 22
270 Abhishek Parikh 12th 17
271 Sidharth Barwe III year 21
272 Jiji K Graduate 20
273 Devdas Nair II year 19
274 Saima Haq II year 20
275 Sama Haq II year 20
276 Satabdi Jaina 12th 18
277 Viraj Nair 12th 17
278 Trinanjan Radhakrishnan 12th 17
279 Neha Puri 12th 17
280 Parul Kumar 12th 17
281 Nandini Ravindranath 12th 17
282 Harsh Anuj 12th 17