Governments over years have been using public service commission to reinforce conformance to particular ideology and philosophy right from Independence. For example, the UPSC exams invariably keep asking questions about British Raj and Moghul period than about different kings from India who fought these invaders. For a long time till late 70s, Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC had British History as one of the elective subjects. Our education system being highly competitive-exam oriented, these are subtle ways of reorienting students towards subjects relating to leftist ideologies and Western philosophies.      

The recent exams conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) takes the cake. It recently conducted the preliminary exam for Group 1 services on 3^rd January 2021. The questions asked in the exam seem to propagate a certain ideology rather than concentrating on the wide range of subjects and long rich history of Tamil Nadu.  There were numerous references to Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) founder E.V. Ramasamy, fondly called as “Thanthai Periyar” by his followers. Both Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have their origins in DK. This particular exam of TNPSC was taken by 1,31,264 candidates, and the number of registered candidates was 2,56,954, which shows the impact that the exam can make on the student population of Tamil Nadu. The next batches also will be preparing for the exam on these lines. The exam seems to send the signal that it is important to know the Dravidian history to clear it.  

The exam conducted for recruiting people for Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) did not have a single question related to the great Tamil dynasties (Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas) and their countless governing models. Rather, it focused on DK party history and its philosophy. Rather than testing the general knowledge of the future public servants, their knowledge on Dravidian ideology is tested in the question paper.

The bias of the examiner is evident from the way the leaders are addressed. It refers to the Dravida leader as Thanthai Periyar which is how he is known, but when it comes to referring to freedom fighters like Bharathi or other equally important leaders like Annadurai or Kamarajar, it is by their first names or simply their names.   

These are some sample questions of the exam, to give an idea of the recurring bias in the exam paper.

• “Thanthai” Periyar passed resolutions for the welfare of the women in the suyamariyathai conference of?

•  “Thanthai” Periyar referred as the philosophy of Self Respect Movement to?

• Which of the following ideas does not fall within “Thanthai” Periyar’s definition of Civilization?

• The Editor of Tamil daily Kudiarasu - (A) “Thanthai” Periyar (B) C. Rajaji. (C) Satyamurti (D) “C.N. Annadurai”

• In 1929, at a ‘Self Respect Movement’ conference in Chengalpattu, “Thanthai” Periyar passed a resolution relating to an important matter-

• “Thanthai” Periyar wanted people to consider the following as equal to their lives –

• A Chief Minsiter supported by “Thanthai” Periyar challenged that “Show me a person who died because a lower caste doctor wrongly injected or show me a building that collapsed because it was built by a low caste engineer”. It was

• (Omandur Ramasamy

• “Kamarajar”

• “Arignar” Anna

• “Kalaignar” M. Karunanidhi

• Which one of the statements is incorrect regarding Gokhale? -

• He started “Servants of Indian Society in 1905

• He went into South Africa and helped “Gandhi” in his movement against Colour bar

• “Gandhi” accepted Gokhale as ‘Political guru’

• “Gandhi” described Gokhale as diamond of India, the jewel of Maharashtra and Prince of Workers.

• The first blueprint for Indian planning came from an engineer administrator

(A) M. Visvesvaraya, (B) “Nehru” (C), …

• Which one of the statements is correct regarding the “Subhas Chandra Bose”?

• Which one of the statements is correct regarding “Bharathiar?”

There were questions about Christianity and Islam like,

• Who first brought Christian faith into South India?

• Who produced the greatest work Tarjuman-Qur’an [ a translation of Qur’an from Arabic to Urdu]?

One finds no questions related to Hinduism. However, there is a question asking for the name of the philosophy which is a major rival to Vedic religion.

“This philosophy was purportedly founded in the 5^th Century BC by Makkhali Gosala. It was a major rival of “Vedic” religion. It reached the height of its popularity during the rule of the Mauryan Emperor Bindusara around 4^th century VBC. This school of thought was followed for nearly 2000 years through the 14^th century CE in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu.”

There were totally 17 questions with references to DK party, “Thanthai” Periyar and their ideology.

Further, there were three questions focusing on “Mughal Dynasty”:

•  Alamgir nama was written by whom?

• Arrange the following in chronological order. 

• Death of Humayun

• Second Battle of Panipat

• Building at Fathpur Sikiri

• Proclamation of Din-illahi

• Who served as British Ambassador to the Mughal Court?

And, one question on Delhi Sultanates “Which land distribution system adopted by sultans of Delhi?”. Unfortunately, the history of great Tamil rulers is nowhere to be seen. Even in “Union Public” Service Commission (UPSC) exams, there were references to Tamil kings; sadly, the “Tamil Nadu Public” Service Commission (TNPSC) has none.  

These officers will be future administrators of the State and will be responsible for promoting the state and enabling its development.  Surprisingly, it ignores even the present ruling party’s past leaders and Government’s priorities. Except one there are no questions with references to the numerous past and present schemes of the Government of Tamil Nadu. This appears to be driven by the agenda of force-feeding certain ideas or motives onto the minds of future policy makers of the government. While the Tamil media goes gaga over saffronization of education, there is no criticisms of this. With all this, one wonders if the media can truly claim to be unbiased, independent, and objective in Tamil Nadu or is agenda driven.

 

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