Former Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and current Rajya Sabha MP, Dr. Dinesh Sharma, while speaking in the seminar organized at Netaji Subhash Post Graduate College, said that the ancient culture of India rich due to Vedas, Puranas etc. that even when America had to prepare for a space program, it took help from culture of India and studied it throughly.
He said that the Mughals tried hard to destroy it and the British left no stone unturned to end the rich cottage industry system here. Macaulay had even said that to rule India for a long time, its culture and cottage industries would have to be destroyed. He said that India did various kinds of experiments but their basis was Vedas, Puranas etc. He first attacked the ideal education system here and promoted the convent schools and then did various things to close down the Sanskrit schools. The Mughals also did the same thing. They burnt the texts of India and the rare texts of the libraries of Takshashila and Nalanda universities, but the people of India were so intelligent that they memorized them and later rewrote them.
Women’s activism decreased after the arrival of the British
Regarding the incidents of Ramayana, Dr. Sharma said that on one hand Ramcharit Manas describes the actions of God and on the other hand it indicates about the good behavior of human beings. For example, Shri Ram’s friendship with Nishadraj inspires us to learn from him. It slowly decayed because whoever came attacked it with their property. The temples of the south were so prosperous that they ran many schools, colleges and hospitals.
There was also a Brahmin Vaidya in the villages, who along with giving medicines, also worked to end the disputes in the village. He used to work to unite the society. He also used to perform rituals and on the occasion of marriage, he used to connect different castes of the society for some work or the other. He even studied and taught also. Where 50 percent of the expenditure came from the income of temples. After the arrival of the British, there was a decline in women’s activism in India. Poets like Mahadevi Verma worked to give direction to the society and empower women.
Women’s respect is a characteristic of Indian culture
In ancient times, respect for women was a specialty of Indian culture. Despite Ravana having so much power, he could not do any harm to Sita, rather if he would have touched Mata sita he himself had to die along with his entire family. What happened to the Kauravas due because of Draupadi’s humiliation became history. Overall, empowerment was possible at that time only because of women empowerment. He took the names of Sitaram, Gaurishankar, Lakshminarayan, Radhe Krishna etc. as examples of always giving respect to women. India, which was called the golden bird, was looted by the Mughal rulers and the British.
Modi worked to restore the ancient glory of India
He said that after becoming Prime Minister, Modi worked towards restoring the ancient glory of India. He raised the pride of the country to a higher level. When people questioned this, he said that today India is not such that anyone can treat it as they want. He gave a new dimension to women empowerment and gave constitutional status to 33% reservation.
Blind change destroys the future
Giving examples regarding the youth moving towards modernity and the Western culture, Dr. Sharma said that change with time is fine but blind change serves to put the future in jeopardy. He suggested the college administrators to make further arrangements for teaching of commerce in the college and will provide whatever help is possible in this regard and will also provide financial support from the MP fund. He also congratulated the Principal for her better contribution in the development of the college.
