The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed urgent action if complaints are received of places of worship and religious institutions using children to fuel animosity.
A full bench of commission chairperson Manoj Kumar K.V. and members Babitha B. and C. Vijayakumar directed strict legal action in cases where complaints of children being used to spread religious hatred or for weapons training or extremist activities arose.
It was taking suo motu action on an incident during a Popular Front of India rally in Alappuzha in which a minor was seen in a video chanting provocative slogans apparently against other religions.
The commission said there was a need to examine if religious animosity was being cultivated to attract students to extremist behaviour.
The commission directed the General Education and the Women and Child Development department Secretaries and the State Police Chief to frame a curriculum that helped foster secularism and scientific consciousness among students. More facilities should be arranged for comprehensive development of students and strengthening of arts, cultural, and sports initiatives with the support of local self-government institutions.
Since children were the nation’s future, they should be nurtured into a generation that can drive the country’s progress, the commission said.
