Ref to Veda pathashalas in this article's title is malicious! Article body itself has absolutely no mention of Veda pathashalas, but inclusion of the word in bold/large-point title ensures visibility and reveals intention of maligning benevolent work done by such institutions.
Such an act showcases a lack of business ethics and accountability in journalism. Further the newspaper has changed its headline in the online edition without any apology. 2/...
The oral tradition of the Vedas has been inscribed by UNESCO as part of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” (ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditio…) and the Pathashalas are the time-honoured institutions preserving this tradition.
Run entirely from philanthropy with a scriptural prohibition against requiring fees, these institutions provide free traditional education to thousands of students hailing from poor to middle-income families.
Students who have come out from Pathashalas range from simple temple priests to professors and even Vice-Chancellors of Central and State Universities.
The oldest running formally registered Pathashala is over 400 years old, and many more smaller setups have been conducted without fanfare for similar time scales.
Despite several social difficulties and resulting inevitable closure of some old setups, new ones are also being successfully conducted by those dedicated to the preservation of our heritage.
These institutions have not flourished by being vehicles of human trafficking! They have also fully complied with the state government’s request for data on the minor students that they house complete with consent letters from guardians.
These institutions function purely on the financial and other contributions of the munificient public. Administrators, faculty and staff work on modest salaries or volunteer basis, taking huge physical and mental effort in managing, teaching, …
… and providing food and health care for children from different backgrounds whom they are bound to only by a sense of Dharma. To malign such Dharmic institutions as Veda Pathashalas despite all this is nothing but to malign and belittle the Sanatana Dharma itself…
which they are based on and dedicated to preserving. It is obvious that this “tying a knot between the ankle and the shaven head” (to translate a Tamil phrase) is not by any standards honest and is merely taking the chance to throw mud out of spite, thus to be strongly condemned!
