Church Favours Study of All Religions in Schools

File photo of school children during morning prayer at a school.

Standing against the Government's move to have only Hindu Scripture as part of the educational Curriculum in India, the Indian Church has sought for a better alternative by calling for the introduction of study of all religions as part of the government's educational manifesto.

Explaining the move, Father Gyanprakash Topno, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India said "It is an ideal position to integrate scriptures of all religions in academic curricula. We being in a democracy cannot promote one religion; such practice does not augur well for democracy. Letting students learn from all religious books helps strengthen further national integration, peace and harmony."

Supporting the Church's proposal to the government, Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal said that children should be allowed the opportunity to learn from the Bible, Quran and other religions.

The state of Haryana where BJP, the ruling nationalist party in power in the country, has a seat of political domain, has already announced that the Hindu scripture of Bhagavad Gita would be mandatorily taught in government run schools from 5th to 12th standard starting with the next academicsession in July-August. In addition the Rajasthan government, where again BJP is in power through Smt. Vasundhara Raje, has committed to make available 13,500 copies of the Hindu scripture and literature in the government schools.

Though the BJP did face quite an opposition to their proposal but the party is adamant to implement the rule as an attempt to "Hinduize" education. Such moves are already tarnishing the secular fabric of a nation that was once known for its democratic system.