Belated WTF

This happened the last year. And I found about it now . Apparently , caste based reservation was just not enough for dear old Arjun Singh jee, he had to do this as well . Although it is a trivial matter , to me it appears to be a reflection of the bickering political mindset . This is the old logo of the Kendriya Vidyalay Sansthan .



And this is the spanking new one , courtsey , the Union Minister for HRD .



Where did the Lotus and the Rising Sun go ? A sane mind wouldn't bother much , but then , I am not sane . :) Why was the logo changed ? Did the old one not reflect the spirit of KVS ?

"But when a board headed by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh decides to omit the ‘lotus’ symbol — also the BJP party symbol — from the emblem to enable a “broader reflection of the national ethos”, it’s hard not to see any politics in the act. This new emblem, say officials, was chosen from amongst several proposed by the art teachers of various KVs and after a close selection in which HRD minister Arjun Singh is said to have taken keen interest"

We can't even call it De-saffronisation . The fact that KV's logo had a lotus and a rising sun had nothing to with the BJP , KVS was founded in 1965 , and there was no BJP then .

“'We have retained the Sanskrit motto taken from the Upanishads and that is very much reflective of the Indian culture. The new logo was decided upon after several deliberations and keeping in mind the present spirit of education and the scientific temper and globalization of education besides the changed National Curriculum Framework (NCF) that has broadened horizons and also focused on computer education 'said Dr. U.N. Singh, Joint Commissioner (Academics) - KVs "

By what rationale is the lotus and the rising sun not a part of Indian culture , if a Sanskrit shloka from the Upanishadas is ? I think even that motto could have been stricken off , citing that it does not reflect the secular nature of our country . So what comes next ? Changing its slogan from "Vidya sarvate shobhte" to something stupid in Italian or Latin to please the Mistress ? Banning the symbolic use of lotus altogether , as it is used by their political rivals as a party symbol ?

This is a very small and seemingly insignificant matter , that most of us won't even give it a second thought . But I couldn't help uttering a WTF, albeit a belated one . And given that in a country like ours, where almost everything sparks off a controversy , why did this not ? Why ? I am genuinely very surprised . This is just the kind of excuse any hard-working right-winger would need to create a furore . Was I in a comatose state that I missed the media mention , if any ? And am I making a mountain out of a molehill ? On a side note , what if it had been the other way round , the BJP removing some symbol associated(directly or indirectly) with the Congress ; what do you think would have happened then ?

"Dr U N Singh says that the organisation would rather steer clear of political controversies and pointed out that the BoG had as members not only eminent educationists, officials from various state Governments, directors of both CBSE and NCERT, but also members of the Opposition parties and the logo change was a 'collective decision' arrived at considering the dynamic nature of education."

What if the Minister Sahib had decided to put his foot down ,issued a "farman" that the symbol had to go , and asked his sub-ordinates to cook up a credible enough reason for it . In all fairness , it is quite possible that this was not politically inspired . In all fairness , it is quite possible that I have lost it . But my twisted mind cannot get over the fact that Politics had something to do with it . The way the Congress,the BJP, the Communists etc. are always at each others' throats, no wonder why I cannot digest this easily . It sometimes appears as if they are waging wars against each other , and not against the abstract and the physical enemies of this nation . And elections are around the corner, so it is political World War time . The saddest part is that is that in this war, the face of the enemies within are not clear . A very sad WTF . :(


Image Source - 1 and 2
News Source - Indian Express and Yahoo