Core of lack of nationalism perhaps lies in our education curriculum that is focused solely on imparting ‘education’. There is little emphasis on morals, ethics and imbibing a sense of nationalism.

Concerned by manpower shortages in the defence forces in 1996, a veteran Japanese Admiral asked a group of youngsters why they were not considering volunteering and what would happen if someone attacked Japan. He was aghast at their response that since modern-day wars are short, the youngsters planned to simply locate themselves abroad for duration of the war. That may have been a joke but consumerism and craving for easy life by the youth is hitting India increasingly.

It has had its effect on the defence forces with over 14,000 officer shortages in the Army alone, with little prospects of filling the voids. Core of lack of nationalism perhaps lies in our education curriculum that is focused solely on imparting ‘education’. There is little emphasis on morals, ethics and imbibing a sense of nationalism. Pre-independence history in school curriculums centres mainly on the Moghul and British periods. Then come negative political influences like while some 2000 Indian soldiers had lost their limbs fighting the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was terming the IPKF traitors for fear of disturbing his vote bank. So much for the talk of political impetus in reviving nationalism.

It is in this backdrop that the recently concluded seven-day-long 14th Rashtra Katha Shibir (translated as National Stories Camp), attended by an unbelievable number of some 15,000 children of 8 to 18 years age group (50 per cent girls) from various parts of the country came as a big pleasant surprise to first time speakers. These camps are run by the Shri Vedic Mission Trust with its Founder and inspirer in the charismatic Swami Dharmabandhu – a 32-year-old who could have lived in luxury as an IAS officer but chose instead to revive nationalism in the youth.

Mention the Shri Vedic Mission Trust to anyone and the first reaction is that it must be a ‘front for the RSS’ until you apprise them that the Chairman of the Trust is General V.P. Malik (former COAS) and the trustees are K.P.S. Gill (former DGP, Punjab), Arun Bhagat (ex-DG IB & BSF), Joginder Singh (former Director CBI) and Suresh Sharma (DIG Police, Punjab). Eminent personalities, other than the Chairman and trustees, that have addressed these camps in the past are Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wajahat Habibullah, Dr K. Kasturirangan, Professor A.R. Rao, Dr Kailash Swaminathan, G. Parthasarthy, Admiral L. Ramdas, Ajit Doval, Prashant Mishra, Prakash Singh, General Jagjit Singh Aurora, J.N. Dixit, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Jaswant Singh, Narendra Modi, Arif Mohammed Khan, M.S. Bitta plus other Governors, Chief Ministers, scientists, educationists, social workers, etc.

This time speakers at the 14th camp run at vilage Pransala in District Rajkot (Gujarat) included Anil Kakodkar, Prashant Mishra, M.S. Bitta, Lt General Nirbhay Sharma, Lt General P.C. Katoch, Maj General G.D. Bakshi and Cmde Uday Bhaskar and others. The camp is run akin to the Army with MBA students volunteering to oversee the administration. The children have a busy schedule with exposure to national integration, communal and social harmony, disaster management, spiritualism, patriotism, culture and civilisation, personality development, yoga, health, martial arts, horse riding, shooting sports, computer training, environment, etc.

Such camps should actually be an annual feature in all states of India considering 65 per cent of our population is of 14 years and below age group. If youth are not channelised correctly, youth power can become a great disadvantage. The defence forces, particularly the Army needs to patronise such events and provide assistance like karate instructors, etc. besides deputing speakers. Talks by Service Chiefs, Vice Chiefs, others will help tickle the nationalist nerve in the youth.

The views expressed herein are the personal views of the author.