A group of like-minded intellectuals has condemned the introduction of a recitation competition of religious texts under the Prathibha Karanji programme for primary and high school students.
A circular issued by the Education Department’s Directorate of Urdu and Other Minority Language Schools on July 25 has stated that students can only chant the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and the Koran in Arabic.
Pointing out that secularism is a constitutional value, they said that it is better not to bring issues pertaining to religion in public institutions. “If at all such a competition is necessary, chanting of portions from the holy books of all religions should be allowed,” they said in the statement on Thursday.
“Instead of religious chanting, paras or sentences from prose, poetry or songs by noted poets, social thinkers, and human rights/child rights activists that uphold human values and equality should be chanted. This is essential to ensure the principles of secularism and humanism are followed in schools,” the statement added.
The signatories include Niranjanaradhya V.P., G. Ramakrishna, Vasundhara Bhupathi, Mallige, T.R. Chandrasekhar, Gopalakrishna Nairy, and B.N. Yogananda.
