RSS has set the agenda for Delhi University's Gyanodaya Express, the annual railway education trip. RSS and the BJP, which are trying to make in-roads into the North East, have decided to take the university train to the seven sisters. The trip named Dharohar: The Glory of the North East will be flagged off by prime minister Narendra Modi on December 18.
According to the itinerary that was decided after a series of meetings between the representatives of RSS and university administration, students and teachers going on the trip will be visiting temples and Hindu mathas. They will also visit sites which date back to the Mahabharata and Ramayana periods, the Shiv temple in Tripura and the ashram of Vashisth.
About 1,500 students and 150 teachers from 68 colleges of Delhi University will join the trip between December 18 and 29. The rules for the tour permits each college to submit two projects for the excursion. The project selction committee, which has professors from the department along with representative from the right wing organisations and the ministry of culture, has approved 63 projects so far. Several of the approved projects are on tracking the religious and linguistic roots of the region. Study of history, myths and folklore has also been given importance in the projects approved.
"If studied closely, north eastern states have traces of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Each of the seven states has its own version of Ramayana; Lord Krishna's wife Rukmani belonged to an Arunachal tribe. Characters of Mahabharata can be tracked back to the Naga tribe. The idea is to make the students understand the rich Hindu history lying unattended in these states," said Rajeev Pathak of Integrated Talent Development Mission (ITDM). ITDM is an organisation attached to the ideology of Swami Vivekananda working in proximity with the right wing associations.
In a brief that the university has received from the ministry of human resources development and the PMO, the programme is an effort by the government to make Delhi a more friendly state for those living in North East. The government is of the view that incidents of molestation, rape and murder of north eastern students in Delhi have not gone down well with the residents of that region. It hopes that students and teachers going to north east will give a positive message. The tour is also being seen as part of prime minister's vision for north eastern states.
The university has started a month-long language programme for those who will join the trip. "Our students are learning the north eastern languages to communicate with the locals," said Bipin Tiwari, member secretary, Gyanoday Coordination Committee.
The Gyanodaya project is an initiative of Delhi University vice chancellor Dinesh Singh. This is the fifth year of this train. In the past students have travelled to Punjab, Maharashtra Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
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