Even regarding Sanskrit, way back in 1956, the Sanskrit Commission had unanimously recommended that ``that this provision should be such that, in some way, the young Indian pupils, with such exceptions as may be necessary, would automatically study Sanskrit... That for this purpose, compulsory provision for teaching of Sanskrit, unaffected by arguments of economy or number of students taking Sanskrit, should be made in all the schoolsin the country.

Said Dr Radhakrishnan: ``The culture associated with Sanskrit gives us a view of religion which is not exclusive but universal, a kind of religion which is most suited to modern conditions''.

The Committee on Religious and Moral Instruction 1959, appointed by the central ministry of education, recommended that ``the content of such education in moral and spiritual value should include a comparative and sympathetic study of the lives and teachings of great religious leaders and, at later stages, their ethical systems and philosophies''.

Later, the Kothari Commission (1964-66) made the recommendation that ``the Central and state governments should adopt measures to introduce education in moral, social and spiritual values''. K. G. Saiyidain, an eminent scholar and chairman of the Committee on School Text Books, appointed by the ministry of education in 1966, had made the following specific recommendations:
``Text Books should endeavour in their limited way to acquaint the pupils withbasic truths of all religions and the contribution they have made to the development of human values. In order to achieve this objective, a balanced presentation should be given in textbooks on various religions of the people of India.

``Sanskrit has a very important cultural position in the country and that its study should be encouraged as widely as possible among the students and in a much more serious manner. But this should be done only on a voluntary and optional basis''.

During the regime of the late Rajiv Gandhi, the government had formulated a National Policy on Education for 1986-1992. It stated that ``efforts will be made to delve deep into India's ancient fund of knowledge and to relate to contemporary reality. This effort will imply the development of facilities for the intensive study of Sanskrit and other classical languages''.

Or remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi: ``Where there is no Dharma, there can be neither knowledge nor wealth''. It was the predominance of Dharma in Indianculture that compelled Arnold Toynbee to make this prophecy:
``It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in history, the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way''.

The people of India would urge the politicians of all hues to leave education free from politics. The eternal character of Indian civilisation is a precious a treasure. Let no one forget the immortal lines of Allama Iqbal: ``kuch baat hai ki hasti mitai nahin hamari sadion raha hai dushman daure jehan hamara'' (There is a certain something in the entity of our civilisation that has defied destruction despite persistent onslaught by its enemies down the centuries).

All education ministers, especially the HRD Minister, must resist the dushmans (enemies) of India's hasti (the entity of Indian civilisation).

The writer is an MP