On Saturday, Congress leader and former Union Minister K Rahman Khan launched a Hinduphobic attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party saying that the party had vested interest behind introducing the Bhagavad Gita in the Karnataka school syllabus. He said that the new education policy was nothing but a cover to introduce the Hindutva policy in the school syllabus.
This is a day after Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh said that ‘if approved by experts, the state would definitely include the Gita in the syllabus for students’. “Bhagavad Gita is not only for the Hindus, but it is also for all. If experts say, it will definitely be introduced. However, it will not be done for this year, but from next year”, he had said on March 18.
Criticizing the opinion, Khan today said that Gita is not the only book that teaches ‘Dharma’ and that students should be taught every religious book that teaches ‘Dharma. “Karnataka Education Min has spoken on the lines of Gujarat that they’re going to introduce Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus. Nothing wrong if they prescribe a religious book but India is a country of diversity with several religions”, he said.
“Every religious book teaches ‘Dharma’, you can’t say it’s only Gita that teaches ‘Dharma’ and Indian culture. All religious books should be taught to students. New Education Policy is a cover to bring Hindutva policy in the syllabus, nothing else”, Khan added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka education minister BC Nagesh also stated yesterday that re-introduction of the Moral Science subject was important. The BJP leader said, “We’ve studied Moral Science in schools. Now, parents feel it should be introduced. At present, we’ve not thought of it, but we want to introduce it in the future. Subjects in Moral Science will be decided by experts.” The minister continued, “We will speak to the chief minister about whether we will introduce Moral Science. Whatever makes an impact on children will be introduced, be it the Bhagavat Gita, Ramayana, or Mahabharata.”
It is important to note that amid the Hijab ban in Karnataka, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced in the Assembly that the Bhagavad Gita will be a part of the school syllabus for Classes 6 to 12 across the state from the academic year 2022-23. Education Minister Jitu Vaghani announced in the Legislative Assembly during a discussion on budgetary allocations for the education department.
The Karnataka High Court on March 15 upheld the state government’s order prohibiting students from wearing religious attires, including hijab, in educational institutes. The court, as per its order, stated that the hijab is not an essential practice of the Islamic faith and dismissed all the petitions filed by Muslim girl students seeking permission to wear hijab in educational institutions.