UP: Yogi's guru, Nath sect finds entry in school books

Students in Uttar Pradesh will now be studying about the life and spiritual achievements of the gurus of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also the head of the Gorakhnath Temple, the seat of Gorakshpeeth in the state's Gorakhpur town.

According to sources in the basic education department here, students of Class VI will study about two saints from the "Nath" sect- Baba Gorakhnath and Gambhirnath.

The books have two chapters on the life and spiritual achievements of the two "Nath" sect saints.

The chapters on the saints will also highlight the importance of the "Nath" sect in the Hindu religion, meditation and philosophy.

Besides the revised syllabus also includes chapters on BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil and Bandhu Singh.

An interesting addition in the syllabus is that of "Alha-Udal", the two brothers, who were great warriors and had been immortalised by ancient Hindi poets and have become part of the folklore in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

"It is essential for the children to know about our religion, philosophy and great heritage," remarked a senior official of the basic education department.

The Opposition parties, however, termed the inclusions an attempt to "saffronise" education.

"All the great personalities hailing from every religion and community should be included in the books....this government is only including saffron leaders...it is nothing but communalising education as well," said Samajwadi Party leader Sunil Singh.