U’khand madarsas plan to teach Sanskrit, yoga
REVAMP Seminary board reasons if English can be taught then why not the ancient language
RUDRAPUR: The ancient Indian language of Sanskrit could be taught in madarsas, or Islamic seminaries, in four Uttarakhand districts that have a sizeable Muslim population.
The Madarsa Welfare Society that governs 207 madarsas across Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts proposes to include Sanskrit in the curriculum from next year. The subject could be funded through the Union government’s ‘Scheme to Provide Quality Education in Madarsas’.
“When we can teach English, a foreign language, why not teach an ancient Indian language as well,” said Sibte Nabi, the society’s chairman.
Nearly 25,000 students, enrolled in these madarsas, are already learning Hindi, English, science, mathematics and Dini Talim, or religious instructions.
The society has written to chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat seeking his approval to appoint Sanskrit teachers.
According to Nabi, special attention will be given to yoga and Ayurveda, the two ancient Indian mind-body disciplines.
“The base of Ayurveda lies in Sanskrit. By learning the language, Muslim student will be able to compete for medical education,” he said, underlining the growing demand for qualified Ayurveda experts.
The push for Sanskrit is at odds with the common view of many orthodox Islamic organi- sations, which associate the language with Hinduism and had even objected to Muslims singing Vande Mataram.
Composed by pre-independence Bengali poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s, Vande Mataram, which means “I praise you, mother”, was an inspiring slogan during India’s freedom struggle. In 1947, India adopted the first two verses of the poem written in Sanskritised Bengali as the national song.
The Madarsa Welfare Society said Sanskrit as a language has a wider dimension and, therefore, should be taught in madarsas from next year.
Sanskrit is not alien to Muslims and several Islamic scholars are fluent in the language, said Maulana Akhtar Raza, who runs a madarsa at Kichha in Udham Singh Nagar district.
Sanskrit is the second official language in Uttarakhand, where 82.97% of the people are Hindus, according to the 2011 census. Muslims comprise 13.95% of the population, of whom 20.20% are urban residents.
Parents and students supported the idea of Sanskrit being taught in Islamic schools. “Our children will be able to compete for mainstream jobs by learning Sanskrit,” said Mahboob Ali, a chemist whose daughter is a student at Garib Nawaz Madarsa.
Mohammad Mehfooz, an 18-year-old student of Madarsa Ishatulhaq in Haldwani, wants to opt for Sanskrit as one of the subjects in the civil services examination that he intends to take. “Sanskrit could help me score good marks,” he said.