Humanity and heroism in Indian education

Dr Debajyoti Goswami

(fao@astu.ac.in)

Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 - 28 February 1963):

He was the first president and one of the makers of the Constitution. He played a stellar role in the Champaran Movement in Bihar. During the early time 1908, he was instrumental in the formation of the Bihari Students. It was the first organisation of its kind in the whole of India.

C.V. Raman (7 November 1888 - 21 November 1970):

He was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. The Raman effect won scientist, Sir CV Raman, the Nobel Prize for physics in 1930. It was also designated as an International Historic Chemical Landmark jointly by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS).

 B R Ambedkar (14 April 1891 - 6 December 1956): Man-Making Education)

Bhirao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was the chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee. He is called the champion of the Dalit and minority rights movement in India. Ambedkar was an economist and social reformer. He published the book Annihilation of Caste in 1936 which spoke against the caste system and Hindu orthodox religious leaders. He also opposed the special status being granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and supported Uniform Civil Code.

Abul Kalam Azad (11 November 1888 - 22 February 1958)

Moulana Azad stressed the importance of primary education for the future welfare of the people. He advocated for the speedy progress of adult education as part of social education. He opined without education; the existence of democracy could not be felt.

Maulana Azad suggested three stages of secondary education - elementary, middle, and higher. He was also a spiritualist and a scholar of Islamic religion and philosophy. The core of his educational thinking was on Islamic, which he slightly modified in the light of his knowledge of modern educational thought in the West and India. He was equally conversant with all other aspects of his cultural heritage, the Indian heritage, and modern heritage.

 Netaji Subhash Bose (23 January 1897 - 18 August 1945):

Subhas Chandra Bose is considered the most influential freedom fighter with extraordinary leadership skills and a charismatic orator. His famous slogans are 'tum Mujhe Khoon do, main tumhe aazadidunga', 'Jai Hind', and 'Delhi Chalo'. He formed Azad Hind Fauj. He taught patriotism to the Indian civilian.

Lal bahadur Sastri (2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966)

Lal Bahadur Sastri introduced the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" and played a pivotal role in shaping India's future. He integrated the idea of the Green Revolution to boost the demand for India's food production. He had also supported the promotion of the White Revolution for increasing milk production in the country. At his effort, the National Dairy Development Board was established. He supported the establishment of the Amul milk cooperative based at Anand, Gujarat. He raised his voice against the dowry system and caste system. When he was a home minister, he introduced the first committee on the Prevention of Corruption.

 Chandra Shekhar Azad (23 July 1906 - 27 February 1931):

Chandra Shekar Azad was a pioneer of Indian Independence. His patriotism inspired other people in India.

 Bhagat Singh (September 1907 - 23 March 1931)

He was a great freedom fighter and he taught us the art of patriotic atmosphere in loving our country. For this reason, he is often referred to as 'Shaheed' (martyr) Bhagat Singh. Why I am an Atheist: "An Autobiographical Discourse", "The Jail Notebook and Other Writings", "Ideas of a Nation" were important publications of Bhagat sigh.

 Deendayal Upadhyaya (25 September 1916 - 11 February 1968)

Bhartiya perspective of education, 'Sa Vidya YaVimuktya' which means education as the way which liberates human beings. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, was a great supporter of this panegyric as he believed in the holistic development of the human being through education. Upadhyaya Ji supported the vision of four Purushart has envisaged in ancient Bhartiya philosophy i.e. Dharma: (Righteousness or Duty), Artha: (Wealth or Money), Kama: (Desire) and Moksha: (Liberation or Salvation). He tried for the multi-dimensional personality of students. He believed that education is the interface of the student and the society. For him, greater social feeling within the student must exist and the students are the ambassador for the progress of society and country. Upadhyaya Ji presented a great philosophical principle of 'Integral Humanism' and enlightened the value of education in Indian society.

 Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 - 16 August 2018):

During his leadership as Prime Minister of India, elementary education became free for children aged 6-14 years for the first time in India. A drastic change was also seen in the number of dropouts. In 2001, Vajpayeeji introduced the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Campaign for enhancing the quality of education in primary and secondary schools. With his great effort the missile project "Chandrayaan -1 was completed and it was an outstanding work in the field of Science and Research activities in India. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (15 October 1931 - 27 July 2015):

He was an Indian aerospace scientist. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts. Avul Pakir Jainelabdeen Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of the country from 2002 and 2007 and is also popularly known as the 'Missile Man of India. He also played a role in the 1998 Pokhran-II tests under the leadership of Sri Atar Bihar Vajpayeeji. Dr Abdul Kalam was felicitated with a Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and then received India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1997. Dr Kalam was elected as the 11th president of India in 2002. He died after suffering cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong on July 27, 2015.

There was a time when humanity to others was considered a great virtue, whether in the family or our everyday life or for the sacrifice to the motherland. But with the passage of time, humanity or ethical value seems to have been lost for selfish attitude. However, all is not lost. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is such initiative of the Government of India under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. By this write up a small effort is dedicated to the Icon of India at whose effort Indian education has gone through some evolutionary journey. n Concluded.