The difference between we, them, us

It’s hard to argue that Indian education is not being Hindu-ised and aligned with the ruling religious ideology

Study the two paragraphs below to judge whether they seem racist and divisive. They are taken from a viral Twitter image claiming to be from a children's textbook produced by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), India's apex body for overseeing educational research, curricula and content.

Eid-ul-Fitr

Ramzan is the holy month in which Muslims observe fast. Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated after Ramzan. On this day, people embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak. They offer namaaz in mosques and eat a sweet dish called seviyan.

Ganesh Chaturthi

On Ganesha Chaturthi, we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha. People bring idols of Lord Ganesha to their houses and worship them. Sweets called modak are made and offered to Lord Ganesha.

What do you think? Racist or not?

I was told to note the way the words we and them had been used - we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha but they offer namaaz in mosques. Anyone could see the textbook had been designed and written by Hindus for Hindu children, and aimed to indoctrinate them early with the insidious seeds of anti-Muslim sentiment.

The conclusion was inescapable (I was told). Indian education was being subverted; our children were being coached in bigotry towards Muslims; we needed to stand up and fight.

As it happened, I had dealt with a similar claim a few days earlier, this one about enslaved American blacks and their immortal hymn, Amazing Grace. "This song," the narrator told me, "can only be played on the black keys of a piano. Black people were not allowed to touch the white keys."

It's a catchy tale, one that could spark outrage at a cocktail party of left-wingers. But a skeptic like me can't leave ‘facts' alone. Needless to say, this balloon was thoroughly punctured.

Amazing Grace was written as a poem first, not a song. Its author, John Newton, was not black but a London-based white slave trader who later became became a pastor and a staunch crusader against slavery. The beloved poem was sung a great deal to the tune of existing songs, eventually becoming popular in the United States where it was finally sung to the tune of New Britain, a traditional song.

In brief, black people and pianos keys had nothing to do with it. Indeed, a moment's thought will reveal the absurdity of a plantation slave being invited to learn the piano at his owner's house, taking care not to touch the white keys.

These days, I follow two rules whenever I hear a story or claim on social media.

Rule #1: Verify, verify, verify
Rule #2: Verify again.

With the Hindu-Muslim story, my first approach was grammatical: what did the words we and they refer to in the paragraphs? In the Eid-ul-Fitr description, it seems to point to the word people in the previous sentence rather than any specific community.

"People embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak. They offer Namaaz in mosques. . ."

Similarly, In the description of Ganesh Chathurthi, the word we does not seem to refer to any group, but rather sounds generic, as in We believe the earth is round. The second sentence mentions people, again in a generic way.

"On Ganesha Chaturthi, we celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha. People bring idols of. . ."

What about other festivals' descriptions? Do they have a we/they divide? I tracked down the whole NCERT textbook online. Here are three descriptions:

"On Gurupurab, Sikhs remember one of their ten gurus. They decorate the gurdwaras with flowers and lights. . ."

"On Diwali, people decorate their houses with candles and divas. They wear new clothes. . ."

"On Christmas, people go to the church to pray and sing Christmas carols. They also decorate. . ."

Based on this, would you really go out on a limb and proclaim that the government is brainwashing children from an early age by craftily deploying ‘they' to describe Muslims and ‘we' for Hindus?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of where education in India is going. It's hard to argue that Indian education is not being Hindu-ised and aligned with the ruling theology in power. The Higher Education Commission of India proposes one government-appointed regulator to rule them all, with power over faculties and teachers. Meanwhile, history is being re-written and the new rules are well understood.
For example, mentioning Mughal emperors with anything but scorn is deprecated. Quoting Urdu poets is a no-no. The less said about the Gujarat riots, the better. It's a growing list, but analysing it is not my purpose today.

However, when you become too eager for proof of what you already believe in, you fall neatly into a trap. It starts when you share unverified images and posts that confirm your pet theories and suspicions without source-checking them thoroughly first. Your fears may be well-founded but not everything you're offered is proof.

You know what happens if you see shadows everywhere you look, right? You drown in darkness.

Here, viewed from there. C Y Gopinath, in Bangkok, throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai, the city that raised him. You can reach him at cygopi@gmail.com
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.