'Christian kids must go to Christian schools'

A senior functionary in Kerala triggered outrage in the political circles after urging Christians to send their children to schools solely run by Christians.

Archbishop of Changanacherry Mar Joseph Powathil, chairman of the powerful Inter–Religious Church Council and former head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India gave the advice during a Sunday gathering in the state.

The Archbishop warned against attempts to create a society of non–believers and said it was necessary to send Christian students to Christian schools to educate about their faith.

The comment however has evoked protests from the state's political parties and even by the Kerala education minister M A Baby who criticized and questioned what led the priest to make the statement.

"Our constitution enables minorities to set up educational institutions of their own, but it isn't proper to say that members of a particular community should prefer schools set up by their community," a secular news quoted Baby saying.

"It seems an attempt at bargaining by having all community members under the umbrella of the church schools and will only lead to polarising children along communal lines," warned BJP state vice president V Muraleedharan.

Adding to the mounting criticism was the RSS, who was quoted as saying, "The Archbishop's comment vindicates our stand that minority institutions are misusing their freedom. Schools are supposed to promote education, not religion. This is against our constitutional ethos and secular credentials," Sangh leader Kummanam Rajasekharan.