Indian State Says It’ll Require Study of Sanskrit, Raising Eyebrows<br />By AYESHA VENKATARAMANMARCH 3, 2017<br />MUMBAI, India — The government of the northeastern Indian state of Assam announced this week<br />that Sanskrit, the ancient Hindu language of the Brahmin priesthood, would now be mandatory for students in the upper grades of all public high schools.<br />Mr. Sarma said that So we want to make history and geography separate subjects in the school, but the government is not doing anything about it.<br />The decision to make Sanskrit mandatory applies to public school students in eighth through 10th grade,<br />but the requirement will eventually be extended to primary schools, said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s education minister.<br />Kamrul Islam Chaudhary, a secretary with the National Students’ Union of India from Assam, said<br />that few teachers in the state were capable of teaching Sanskrit, and that outside instructors would have to be hired.<br />"The government is still working it out, and when it happens, it will come out as a good package." But some, like Mr. Chaudhary of the National Students’ Union, challenged<br />that view and questioned the state government’s intent.<br />Mr. Chaudhary called the Sanskrit requirement "a ploy" to insert "ideologues into every school," referring in particular<br />to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu right-wing group closely affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
