Uniform Education is Best Way to Create Equal Opportunity in India: Ex-Spokesperson of BJP Upadhyay

The Unite India Movement was founded by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay on 8 August.

During a ceremony in the Jantar Mantar area of India’s capital city Delhi dedicated to the Unite India Movement's foundation, people allegedly raising anti-Muslim slogans and a journalist purportedly being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram) were captured on video. The footage went viral soon after the event and the newly-founded movement along with its founder Ashwini Upadhyay drew strong criticism for such incidents. The Delhi Police later detained Upadhyay on 10 August to investigate his potential involvement in provoking anti-Muslim slogans, but he was released on bail within 24 hours of his arrest.

In an interview with Sputnik, Upadhyay shared details about the event, his demands under the Unite India Movement, and his future plans.

Sputnik: What was the purpose behind organising the Unite India Movement? What would you like to say about the controversy surrounding the event?

Ashwini Upadhyay: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in “Mann ki baat”, his monthly radio programme, on 25 July asked the people of India to start the Unite India Movement (Bharat Jodo Aandolan). So, I thought that the anniversary of the Quit India Movement will be the best day to start it.

Through this movement, we raised demands for the abolishment of the “colonial-era laws” which have become ineffective in today’s scenario. We want universal law for everyone. We want religion-neutral laws, gender-neutral laws to be in place as they define true secularism. Secularism means uniformity in education, healthcare, civil code, penal code, judicial code, and other basic rights of the people.

For this we don’t need to change the constitution of India, the need is only to implement the constitution properly. Around 20 percent of the provisions of the existing constitution have not been implemented because of appeasement policy. For example, Article 16 says that everybody in the country should get an equal opportunity, but because of non-uniformity in education, every citizen is not getting it. If the government is implementing "One Nation, One Entrance Exam", then there should be "One Nation, One Curriculum".

Apart from this, there are around 36 laws for all religions in India. Why can’t we merge all the laws and form a uniform civil code?

As far as, controversy about the programme is concerned, I would like to clarify that the event started at 11 am and was called off due to rains at 12 noon. After that, I left for my home in the Ghaziabad district of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh.

I got to know about the video at 8 pm in the evening and several politicians as well as a journalist had tweeted that video using my name. The next day, early in the morning, I submitted a written complaint to deputy commissioner of police asking him to verify whether that video is real or forged. I even urged the police that if the video is real, then strict action should be taken against people raising such slogans; but if the video is fake, then action should be taken against those who are making it viral.

At around 10 pm, the police called me to identify the people in the video. I told them that since I was not there, I can’t identify them. But they insisted that I should visit the police station. After I reached there, the police detained me. The police action on the basis of the tweets by politicians like Shashi Tharoor, Asaduddin Owaisi, Amanatullah Khan, etc. is completely wrong.

The whole incident that happened on that day is an attempt to malign my image and the Unite India Movement.

I strongly condemn the slogans raised at Jantar Mantar targeting Muslims and demand strict action against those who chanted those slogans.

Sputnik: When we talk about equal opportunity for all, should the reservation also be ended?

Ashwini Upadhyay: Reservation was given to provide equal opportunity to all and I am not against it, but we should understand that it is only a tool for that.

We are demanding uniform education as it is a better tool as compared to the reservation. If "One Nation, One Curriculum" is implemented in the country, then it will serve the purpose. When we can implement GST (Goods and Services Tax), a uniform tax system, which is governed by the GST council, then we can also have a similar law for uniform education and create a National Education Council for its implementation.

The Right to Education Act should be amended to the Right to Equal Education Act and the age limit for the students under the purview of the act should be increased from 14 years to 18 years. I firmly believe that the implementation of uniform education is the best way to create equal opportunity for all and to achieve social justice and economic justice for the people of India.

Sputnik: Do you think that the movement started by you will go against the image of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is already facing furore from the opposition?

Ashwini Upadhyay: I don’t think so. The Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh all stand for the unity of the nation. In our protest, we also highlighted 10 points, which include uniform education, uniform healthcare, uniform tax code, uniform penal code, uniform labour code, uniform police code, uniform judicial code, uniform civil code, uniform citizen charter, and uniform population policy.

Out of these 10 points, I have filed PIL (public interest litigation) with the Supreme Court of India on some of them, but it also has a limit and it can’t frame guidelines on everything. This is the reason I started the Unite India Movement so that I can spread awareness about it among the people of the country.

This movement is not against the government. I can only rely on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. This government can only take bold decisions because it believes in development for all. Abolishing “colonial-era laws” is the need of the hour. A lot of people are roaming free despite committing crimes or getting involved in acts of corruption and they know that if these laws are abolished they will be in trouble, so they have tried to malign this movement.

Sputnik: What is your next plan of action?

Ashwini Upadhyay: In the next six months, we will be organising similar programmes in 100 cities of the country. We will connect with intellectuals, youth, and other sections of society. We will make them aware of our movement. Our next programme is in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city on 15 August, then we have a programme in Mumbai on 22 August. So, every Saturday and Sunday, we will be organising such programmes. I believe that in these six months, people of the country will get to know how problematic these “colonial-era laws” are.