The government, through the University Grants Commission (UGC), is pushing for a new college curriculum that would include "Indian Knowledge Systems" in every subject, from history to chemistry. On the surface, this sounds welcome. Who would not want children to learn their country’s heritage?

But we must look closer. This is not just adding new chapters to a textbook; it is a plan to change the meaning of education in India. The problem is not the inclusion of Indian ideas, but a method that could harm a student’s ability to think freely.

Here are ten reasons why this new curriculum is a serious problem.

1. It teaches what to think, not how to think

A real education teaches you how to think for yourself. No historical figure, sacred book or powerful idea should be off-limits to questioning. This curriculum does the opposite. It encourages students to admire and accept, not to question.

For example, students will be taught Kautilya's Arthashastra. A real education would have students debate its fascinating but ruthless methods, its rigid caste system, and its support for spying. Instead, the curriculum presents it as a "powerhouse of efficient management principles and practices" and states its objective is to help students "understand and appreciate its real life applications".

Similarly, in mathematics, students will learn 'sutra-based' methods, where a key outcome is to "solve various linear and quadratic equations by applying the sutras". This is not an invitation to debate; it is a command to show respect. It replaces the hard work of critical thinking with the easy comfort of national pride.

2. It mixes past and present absurdly

The plan mixes ideas from different eras as if they belong together. For instance, it proposes teaching the mythical concept of ‘Ram Rajya’ as a lesson in modern Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), stating that "concepts like ‘Ram Rajya’ (equitable governance) can be explored in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR)". This is like trying to fix a smartphone with a hammer. ‘Ram Rajya’ is an ancient religious ideal of a perfect king. CSR is a modern corporate strategy to manage public image, often to deflect criticism.

The proposed time-keeping course does the same, comparing ancient Indian units like Ghatis to modern standards like GMT, as the syllabus includes both "Calculation of time in Ghatis / Vighatis" and "Time measurement–GMT, IST, LMT". The goal is to create a false equivalence, making an old system seem validated by a new one. This gives a traditional excuse for modern corporate actions, wrapping them in the respectable cloak of ancient tradition to shield them from challenge.

3. It blurs the line between science, art and myth

This is one of the plan’s most damaging parts. It confuses different kinds of knowledge, treating proven science, cultural art, and ancient beliefs as equals. The proposed course on ‘Panchkosha’ lists "Enhancing Intelligence Quotient by activating Chakras" as a practical exercise. This deliberately presents myth and ritual as equal to scientific calculation. The same confusion appears in proposals to teach math from religious texts like the Narada Purana or to link the subject to the Vedas and "personality development".

The syllabus for Sustainability Marketing includes "taking lessons from scriptures". This subordinates a rigorous discipline like mathematics to a spiritual agenda. It is like suggesting the philosophical idea of 'Parmanu' is the same as modern atomic theory. It devalues both our culture and our science.

4. It pushes a political agenda as 'history'

The history we teach is never neutral; it is always a choice. This curriculum shows its political agenda by adding writers like V.D. Savarkar to the reading list for the freedom struggle. The syllabus for Modern Indian Political Thought lists Unit III as: "National Movement - B.G. Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Nationalists - V.D. Savarkar, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya". For years, our founding story was about a diverse, multi-faith movement. Savarkar’s idea was different: he argued that India is a Hindu nation. Adding him is a calculated move to replace the idea of a secular India with that of a Hindu rashtra.

This agenda also appears in a proposed course on ‘Bharatiya Innovations’ in math, which aims to examine "why this glorious history has often been overlooked or erased". This frames history not as an inquiry, but as a political story of past victimhood and present recovery – a core theme of Hindu nationalism.

5. It erases the knowledge of the oppressed

The curriculum speaks of a single "Indian Knowledge System," a dangerous lie. India has never had one system of knowledge; it has had many, often born from protest against the dominant one. The ideas chosen here—from Vedic sutras to the Puranas—are almost all from powerful, upper-caste, Sanskrit traditions. For example, one course bases its "Philosophical Foundations of Ethics" on the "Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata and other ancient literature".

This plan does violence to our history by ignoring the great traditions of resistance. Where is the anti-caste thinking of the Buddha, Phule and Ambedkar? Where are the environmental traditions of Adivasi communities? Where are the histories of Dalit struggles? By leaving them out, this curriculum tells students from these communities that their heritage of fighting for justice does not count as "Indian".

6. It is an attack on the university itself

Universities should be independent places where professors are free to decide what and how to teach. This curriculum is a top-down order from the government. It creates a climate of fear. If a professor's research contradicts the government's preferred history, will they feel safe to teach it? The plan risks turning academics from independent thinkers into government spokespeople, changing our universities from vibrant centres of debate into dull places that repeat the official story.

7. It offers cultural pride instead of a better life

Why is the government pushing this now, when so many worry about jobs and inflation? This is a classic political strategy. When a government cannot deliver on promises of a better life, it often offers a story of cultural greatness instead. Courses with titles like "Bhartiya Innovations: World-wide Accepted" are designed for this. The message is: "You may be struggling, but you are part of a glorious civilisation." One course objective for 'Bharat Bodh' is to appreciate "The glory of Indian Literature". It is meant to distract people from their real-world problems.

8. It creates a workforce perfect for authoritarian capitalism

Ironically, this backward-looking curriculum produces the perfect employee for today’s corporations. As Professor Amber Habib of Shiv Nadar University notes, a student with this math background might know 15th-century Indian mathematics but will be unprepared for modern research, struggling to get into a master's programme at an IIT. This curriculum creates graduates unfit for innovation but adequate for routine technical jobs.

A course on "Basic IT Tools" aims to "equip them with basic computing skills that will enhance their employability". It produces an engineer who can apply a formula but not invent one. It creates a workforce skilled enough to serve the system, but not to change it.

9. It risks creating citizens who cannot ask tough questions

A healthy democracy needs citizens, people who think for themselves and hold leaders accountable. An empire wants subjects, people taught to obey authority. This plan pushes students toward being subjects. The course on "Yoga and Happiness" aims to "cultivate a pure mindset in learners which in turn reduces the possibility of corruption, crime, and injustice in the society". The curriculum encourages loyalty, not criticism.

A stated outcome for the "Envisaging Viksit Bharat" course is to "Instil a sense of national pride and optimism in one’s own life". The goal seems to be a generation that is proud and obedient, not free and thoughtful.

10. The heart of the matter: A war over the purpose of knowledge

This is not just a bad policy; it is a fight for the soul of education. It comes down to one question: What is education for?

Is it to liberate the mind? To give our children the freedom to think for themselves, to question everything, and to build a more just world? A tradition that runs from the Buddha to Ambedkar, which sees education as the way to free the human mind from the shackles of dogma, superstition, and prejudice.

Or is it to create a fixed identity? To mould our children into proud, loyal members of a nation, defined by a single culture and a single history?

This curriculum chooses the second path. It is a plan to use education to build a certain kind of Indian. The alternative – an education that builds a free and thinking citizen – is what is at risk.

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