"Mother" of languages Sanskrit should get rightful place: RSS

New Delhi: Sanskrit is the "mother of all languages" and should get its "rightful place" being the "soul of Bharat", RSS mouthpiece Organiser has said.

"We have given a step-motherly treatment to the mother of all languages since the word go. The time has come that we recognise Sanskrit as the soul of Bharat," an editorial in the weekly magazine said.

It, however, maintained this does not mean discarding English or any other Indian language, but accepting Sanskrit as the "source of our vision of life" and promoting it accordingly.

"Hope that this discussion takes us beyond the distorted secularism practised in Bharat and paves the way for reinstating the rightful position to the mother of all languages," it further said.

A major controversy had erupted when HRD Ministry under Smriti Irani decided to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in government-run Kendriya Vidyalayas. The Modi government has also been accused of trying to saffronise education.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement after 'shloka' recitation by children during his recent trip to Ireland, the editorial took a dig at secularists for raking up a controversy over it.

After he was welcomed with rendition of shlokas, Modi had said he was impressed by the way the children internalised the message in the Sanskrit verses.

"The Irish children were reciting shlokas in Sanskrit and singing welcome songs. It did not seem to me that they were just tutored. They were able to express the feelings of the words," the Prime Minister said during his short speech.

"I congratulate their teachers. It's a matter of happiness that we can do it in Ireland. But had it been done in India, then questions would have been raised on secularism," he had said.

The Organiser editorial said,"The secularists in Bharat did not disappoint him (Modi) and they made a controversy over it. The jibe on foreign land might have hurt some people but their response reflects our general mindset towards Sanskrit and it is definitely rooted in the import of a foreign term, 'secularism'. We should not forget that he was talking to the Bharateeya community and not the foreign audience."

It said whether it is the recitation of Saraswati Vandana or Omkar or observance of Sanskrit Week in CBSE schools, these are opposed.

The editorial said it was argued in Parliament that Sanskrit is the language of Hindus.