Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday justified the decision of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to introduce a chapter on the Emergency in social science textbooks.
Pradhan said that the NCERT had done the right thing as the future generations should know, read and understand the dark deeds of the Emergency. He said that it was the right decision to prevent such a situation occurring again in future. The Union Education Minister was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a function held in Chandigarh to mark the anniversary of the imposition on the Emergency in India.
On the NEET re-examination, the Education Minister said that on June 21 the examination had been held successfully. He said that there were people who wanted to instil fear in the minds of students, but they did not succeed as students did not support them and over 20 lakh candidates appeared in the examination. Those who wanted to create anarchy-like situation were now feeling dejected, he further said.
On the question of the video controversy related to Punjab Chief Minister, Pradhan said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should resign on moral grounds as the matter was deeply religious in nature and the issue was beyond politics. He said that there were elements in the society who were frustrated and could not see the nation move forward.
While addressing the event organised by the Chandigarh BJP, Pradhan said that June 25, 1975, was the darkest day in the history of Indian democracy when the then Congress government attacked the very spirit of the Constitution, democratic institutions and civil liberties in order to retain power. He stated that India was not merely a geographical entity, but a civilization with thousands of years of cultural heritage and democratic traditions. India’s democratic ethos is deeply rooted in its civilisational values, which is why India is regarded as the ‘mother of democracy’, he added.
BJP Chandigarh president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Verma
and former Member of Parliament Satya Pal Jain also addressed the gathering. During the programme, Pradhan honoured democracy warriors and senior BJP leaders Desh Raj Tandon, Jatinder Chopra, Om Prakash Ahuja, Surinder Mahajan and Dharamvir by presenting them with ceremonial shawls.
Earlier, workers of the Youth Congress and NSUI also held protests before the event, demanding resignation of Pradhan on paper leak incident. Barricades were installed on both sides of the roads in Sector 18, Chandigarh, to stop the protesters from moving forward.
