Teaching values in a country of gimmicks

On 31 October 2025, which was also rather ironically the National Unity Day, a Hindi movie titled The Taj Story was released. Hardcore right-winger Paresh Rawal is the protagonist of the movie which aims to show that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple, Tejo Mahalaya. There is no historical evidence at all for the claim. Even the Archaeological Survey of India, which has become a handmaiden of the BJP government in India, has repeatedly rejected the claim that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple.

Paresh Rawal is a talented actor of considerable repute in the Hindi belt of India. He is also a member of the BJP and was an MP from 2014-2019. A diehard fan of Prime Minister Modi, Rawal once wanted to use writer Arundhati Roy as a human shield in Kashmir to fight terrorism there.

Imagine Paresh Rawal taking moral science classes in a school, like PM Modi teaching values in Mann ki Baat.

Values are not taught, they are caught. That has become a cliché, I know. That is the truth, however. When hatred has become the official policy of the government, and top leaders spew the toxin of sectarian hatred in every which way possible, what values do we expect our young generation to ‘catch’?

The history textbooks given to our school students are guilty of many omissions and commissions such as quasi-truths, omitted truths, and fabricated falsehoods. The media – print, digital, electronic, social, whatever – have become blatant government agencies. Absolute lies are passed on as sacred truths by the topmost authorities in the country.

What values do we expect our young students to absorb?

The stories a nation tells about itself shape not only its history but also its morality. All the lies that fly all over will inevitably seep into the realm of values, attitudes, loyalties, and moral judgment.

When the state promotes selective or distorted narratives, it subtly communicates that truth is flexible if power demands it. As George Orwell wrote in 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future.” Who distorts the past distorts the future. If young minds internalise the idea that facts can be rearranged for political convenience, they may grow up believing that manipulation is normal. And once truth is negotiable, integrity falters.

When textbooks and other such ‘sacred’ sources erase uncomfortable episodes, demonise minorities, or glorify one narrative as flawless, students lose exposure to complexity. Instead of learning critical evaluation, they absorb binaries: Us vs Them, Heroes vs Villains, Pure vs Corrupt.

Empathy shrinks.

Literature teaches nuance; propaganda teaches certainty.

Certainties have committed atrocities in history. Nuances ennoble civilisations.

When questioning official narratives becomes risky, the classroom becomes memory tests. Over time, this may breed silent compliance or cynical disengagement or aggressive ideological loyalty. The number of people choosing suicide in India has been rising in the past few years. Now one student commits suicide every hour in India.

We are asked to sing Vande Mataram, all of 3 minutes and 10 seconds. That is the latest remedy prescribed for all our ills.

Our value system is reduced to that sort of gimmicks.

Gimmickry is what we now have even in our courts of justice. What do you expect in schools then?

PS. This is the tenth post of a series on education.

Previous Post (which will also give you the links to all others in the series):

Teacher Training or is it Taming?