The Textbook of Chanakya’s Pupils.
Vidya Bharati and Its Gauravśālī Bhārat Textbook in Uttarakhand
Abstract
This article’s two aims are to briefly describe the activities of a Hindu nationalist organisation commonly referred to as Vidya Bharati, particularly in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and more specifically to analyse and describe the contents and political aims of its ideologically charged social science textbook called Gauravśālī Bhārat (“Glorious India”). Vidya Bharati, that is Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan, is a part of a well-known and influential Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The author describes how its textbook distorts the vision of history in order to mould the worldview of the students and their vision of contemporary Indian politics and society. The article also states that Gauravśālī Bhārat is probably an edited continuation of the earlier, controversial textbook called Gaurav Gāthā and that Vidya Bharati schools emulate the solutions of Christian missionary schools in some respects.
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