Author: Sanjay Kumar Jha
Publication: India Today
Date: July 12, 2004
Introduction: A government school
textbook sings praises of Laloo Prasad Yadav. Poets who eulogise him are
rewarded with government jobs. The Lalooisation of education and literature
continues unabated.
If a Class VIII student of a government
school in Bihar says that the relationship between Union Railway Minister
Laloo Prasad Yadav and his friend-turned-foe Ranjan Yadav is like the one
between Lord Krishna and Sudama, he has learnt his lessons well. For this
is how Mitti ka Gaurav (Pride of the Soil), Laloo's life sketch in the
textbook, defines the relationship between the two. The article, which
also describes the duo as do jism-ek jaan (two bodies, one soul) was written
by Harivansh Narayan, director of primary education, and included in the
textbook after he was made chairman of the Bihar Textbook Committee. Such
superlatives are absent in the latest edition of the textbook, but it still
talks about the friendship between the two.
The Class VIII textbook calls Laloo
the messiah of social justice at some places and a Muslim-Yadav-Dalit champion
at others. This is just one instance of how education and literature have
been Lalooised in Bihar since the RJD chief came to power as chief minister
of the state in 1990. It is because of this that many parents prefer private
schools or those following the CBSE or ICSE syllabus to government schools.
The man responsible for the Lalooisation
of school education is Narayan's mentor Ramvachan Rai, who handles three
responsibilities simultaneously-head of the editorial board of school textbooks,
RJD spokesperson and MLC. Rai has devised ingenious methods to portray
Laloo as a saviour in textbooks. One of these was to include the names
of former chief ministers and Laloo's political gurus Bhola Paswan Shastri
and Karpoori Thakur in Mitti ka Gaurav to make it look like the lesson
was not being partial to Laloo but talking about social justice. The intent,
however, becomes clear when one sees that while there is only half a page
about Thakur and Shastri, the remaining three pages are about Laloo.
The Congress has made much of the
alleged saffronisation of education by the previous BJP-led government,
but conveniently chooses to remain silent about the deification of Laloo
in Bihar textbooks. Singing unabashed paeans to Laloo is not confined to
textbooks. There have been many literary attempts to depict Laloo as a
messiah and even God and the writers have been duly rewarded with plum
government jobs or cash. It is as if Laloo is some king of olden times
who rewards court poets who sing his praise.
Take the case of Rameshwar Singh
alias Kaviji, a retired teacher who was suffering financial hardships.
When he read his verses, Garibon Aur Pichhron Ka Masiha (the messiah of
the poor and downtrodden), to Laloo, he asked a senior government official
to get the poem printed as a book and gave Rs 20,000 to the poor poet.
Union Rural Development Minister and Laloo loyalist Raghuvansh Prasad Singh
released the book at a function organised by the Bihar Hindi Granth Academy
which is headed by Amar Singh, who has himself written four books on Laloo.
After the resounding success of
Laloo Chalisa, which glorifies Laloo in the manner Lord Hanuman is
glorified in Hanuman Chalisa, Rabri Chalisa, a tribute to Laloo's wife
and Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, has already hit the stands. Writers
who have penned pieces like Muchchhar (mosquito) Chalisa (another eulogy
to Laloo) have been rewarded with a place in the Legislative Council or
the Rajya Sabha. "In the name of social justice, the Laloo-Rabri regime
has rewarded only those writers with state benefits who have sung their
praise," confirms a litterateur. Rai counters this by saying, "Literature
changes according to the times and the context."
Ignoring literary merits, the Laloo-Rabri
regime has, through the state textbook committee, included Narayan's stories
in the syllabi of classes VIII, IX and X in the name of "social justice
and empowerment". The biggest casualties of this supposed social justice
exercise are renowned Hindi poets of Bihar like Gopal Singh Nepali, Ramdhari
Singh Dinkar, Ramdayal Pandey and Shivpoojan Sahay whose pieces were deliberately
dropped from the syllabus.
Also missing in the textbooks are
the works of literary luminaries of the state like Fanishwar Nath Renu
and Anup Lal Mandal who highlighted the problems of the downtrodden sections
of society. Four pieces of Renu's prose have been included only as an optional
subject for Intermediate students. The promotion of Laloo in textbooks
is accompanied by systematic omission of many outstanding figures of the
state, ostensibly for the cause of social justice. For instance, the life
story of the renowned sociologist from Bihar, Sachchidanand Sinha, was
dropped from the Class X syllabus.
The Opposition raised the issue
of the Lalooisation of education and literature in Bihar on several occasions,
but nothing came through. Says Kiran Ghai, a BJP MLC, "The future of innocent
children in the state is being jeopardised by including Laloo among the
greats. This is an attempt to perpetrate dictatorship through the back
door and is a very dangerous thing to happen." Adds veteran socialist leader
Luxmi Sahu, "Only those communities have benefited during the Laloo-Rabri
regime which have helped them stay in power."
With Rabri Chalisa already enriching
the literary environment of the state, book lovers are wondering what next.
Perhaps the intellectual cell of the ruling RJD can answer that question.
