Under fire from the Opposition for providing a Hindutva orientation to education with introduction of Gita shlokas and yoga in school curriculum, the Haryana Government is now likely to change the name of “Kurukshetra University” to “Gita University”.
Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma on Friday requested State Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki to rechristen ‘Kurukshetra University’ in the State.
Speaking at an event organised in Kurukshetra, the Education Minister urged the Governor to change the name of “Kurukshetra University” to “Gita University”.
The request put forth by the Minister was fully supported by the Governor, who while talking to the mediapersons said,”The demand raised by the Education Minister is valid and I support him in this. The next course of action would be decided by the State Government as per the law.”
Ram Bilas Sharma earlier said, “Kurukshetra is the place where the sermon of “Bhagvad Gita” was given by lord Krishna. So, I request to change the name of “Kurukshetra University” to “Gita University”.
Kurukshetra, the battlefield described in the mythological epic “Mahabharata” and where the sermon of “Bhagwad Gita” was given by lord Krishna to Pandava warrior Arjun, is located in Haryana.
The Kurukshetra University was established in 1956 as a unitary residential university and its foundation stone was laid by late Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India.
located in the holy city of Kurukshetra, land of the historical battle of ‘Mahabharata’, its campus is situated on the western bank of Brahm Sarover (the holy tank) and extends over an area of over 400 acres.
The issue of rechristening the years’ old university is likely to stir a controversy in the State. The Opposition --Congress and the Indian National lok Dal (INlD) - had earlier slammed the BJP’s move to introduce Gita sholkas in the school curriculum and alleged that the BJP Government’s move in Haryana is to propagate Hindutva agenda of the saffron party. The allegations were also made that this is being done as Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar himself is an RSS ideologue.
Also, after the declaration of dismal results of Class X and XII on Thursday, the Manohar lal Khattar led Haryana Government has attracted criticism from various quarters for giving priorities to promoting moral education with inclusion of Gita shlokas and yoga in school syllabus instead of improving the educational infrastructure at the grassroots level in the State.
Notably, the BJP led State Government is organising Gita Jayanti Samaroh-2015 on a grand scale in the entire, with the State-level Kurukshetra Utsav- Gita Jayanti Samaroh being organised in Kurukshetra from December 17 to 21 this year. Apart from this, for the first time in the State, Gita Jayanti Samaroh would also start in every district of Haryana from December 19.
Recently, the State Government had decided to change the name of ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Parisars’ to ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh Khel Parisars’ in the State, however, it is yet to be implemented.