Protest against teaching of Gita in schools in Karnataka

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka has courted another controversy after it supported the teaching of 'Bhagvad Gita' in primary and higher secondary schools.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishwanath Hegde Kageri on July 9 issued a circular that proposed the teaching of the Bhagvad Gita to primary and secondary school children daily for one hour.

Kageri handed over the responsibility of teaching the Hindu text to Gangadharaeshwara Saraswathi Swamiji of Swarnavalli Mutt in Uttara Kannada.

"As the education minister I support the campaign. The government is ready to give money to mutts that support religion and culture, which the government believes in. Nobody can question it," media quoted Kageri saying at a programme in Kolar.

He went on to say that those opposing the teaching of Gita should quit India.

The education minister's circular meanwhile was challenged by the Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federation that filed a petition in the High Court seeking a recall of the order.

The petitioner stated that the circular goes against the Constitution and also affects the religious beliefs and the sentiments of the minority communities.

Furthermore, the petitioner said the circular was contrary to the right guaranteed to minority institutions and also it violated Section 7(g) 3 of Karnataka Education Act which upholds unity, sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

While condemning the move to force teaching of Gita, counsel for the petitioner, GR Mohan mentioned that if the same is allowed in schools then Quran and Bible must also be included for students.

The court has sought the response of the state and the central governments.

Last week, protests were held by political and religious organisations, condemning the attempt to "communalise" education.

On July 14, Christians joined members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) for a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Bangalore.

"The circular is anti-constitutional because India is a secular country and teaching religious texts, which is holy for the Hindus, to students belonging to different religions is not correct," PTI quoted state president of SFI, HR Naveen Kumar, as saying.

A memorandum was submitted to governor H R Bhardhwaj through deputy commissioner N S Channappa Gowda.

The campaign for introducing the Hindu holy book was on since 2007. It however gained momentum after Kageri, a devoted patron of Gangadharaeshwara Saraswathi Swamiji, assumed charge of the education department.

This is the second time the BJP has come under severe criticism for "saffronising" education.

Recently, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh implemented Gita lessons in Classes 1 to 10 in the current academic session. However, the Church strongly protested the move and urged for other religions' books also to be taught in schools.