In December 2022, the Taliban banned women from attending universities under the pretext of Sharia. Since then I thought to dig deep into this to f
Should Religion Be Taught In Schools? By Fr. Anand Muttungal
The debate on teaching Bhagwad Gita has again come to the forefront with the recent statement of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh that Bhagwad Gita would be included in school curriculum. "Teaching Gita is no crime and the government would include the teaching of Gita in educational curriculum." Shivraj Singh Chouhan said while addressing a function organised by the RSS-backed Saraswati Vidya Pratishthan. Political parties, secular organizations and faith based organizations have taken a different stands. The political parties and secular organizations say that religion should be kept out of the educational curriculum. They say it is against the spirit of the Constitution of India. They quote the Constitution, Article 28(1&2 &3) states that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institutions wholly maintained out of State Funds or receiving state aid. It makes clear that no children can be compelled to attend such classes either. Article 27 further says that tax payers’ money should not be used to promote any particular religion or anybody can be compelled to pay tax for the same.
Faith based organizations say that religion can be a subject in the school. India witnesses many issues related to communalism. An optional subject in the school curriculum can provide children right knowledge about all religions. It can mould better citizens to live in India. It need not be called religious studies but as a subject of eternal wisdom. It can reduce communal tensions. They say that constitution of India very well allows it. In the landmark case of S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) Hon’ble Supreme Court reiterated that secularism was a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Indian State will not identify itself with or be controlled by any particular religion. We hold that no one religion should be given preferential status, or unique distinction, that no one religion should be accorded special privileges in national life or international relations for that would be a violation of the basic principles of democracy and contrary to the best interests of religion and Government. So teaching all religious teachings would not violate the spirit of the Constitution.
The spirit of Indian concept of Secularism can be well understood in the statement of the great statesman-philosopher Dr. S Radhakrishnan, “When India is said to be a secular State, it does not mean that we reject reality of an unseen spirit or the relevance of religion to life or that we exalt irreligion.” Fundamental Duties demanded in the Indian Constitution Article 51-A, (e) that every citizen shall “promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistics and regional or sectional diversities”. Basing on these teaching a subject of eternal wisdom would enhance the spirit of the Constitution of India.
We also have a third opinion that the decision by the Chief Minister is purely political. It is trying to whip up the emotions of majority community. Religion is a personal affair of people and teaching religion is basically duty of parents and communities of religions. Teaching religion as a subject can cause problems as the teachers’ knowledge on all religions would be very limited and at times misinformation can be taught to children which may lead to communal tensions. They quote the Father of the Nation Gandhiji who wrote in Harijan(1946): “I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The State has nothing to do with it. The State will look after your secular welfare, health, communication, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not my religion. That is everybody's personal concern.”
Even though we are confused with the varied views, we need to listen to the judgemental view of the Supreme Court of India in the case of the S.R. Bommai Vs. Union of India [1994 (3) SCC -1] have while holding that the values enshrined in the Constitution imposes a positive duty on the State to ensure the attainment of Secular values, observed So the actions of the State Govt. which are calculative to subvert or sabotage secularism as enshrined in the Constitution can lawfully be deemed to give rise to a situation in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.” It has further held that the encroachment of religion into secular activities is strictly prohibited. Secularism in India has acted as a balance between socio-economic reforms. A State which doe not protect secularism or does any act to destroy secularism would, according to the Supreme Court, be amenable to action under Article 356 of the Constitution.
Faith based organizations say that religion can be a subject in the school. India witnesses many issues related to communalism. An optional subject in the school curriculum can provide children right knowledge about all religions. It can mould better citizens to live in India. It need not be called religious studies but as a subject of eternal wisdom. It can reduce communal tensions. They say that constitution of India very well allows it. In the landmark case of S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) Hon’ble Supreme Court reiterated that secularism was a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Indian State will not identify itself with or be controlled by any particular religion. We hold that no one religion should be given preferential status, or unique distinction, that no one religion should be accorded special privileges in national life or international relations for that would be a violation of the basic principles of democracy and contrary to the best interests of religion and Government. So teaching all religious teachings would not violate the spirit of the Constitution.
The spirit of Indian concept of Secularism can be well understood in the statement of the great statesman-philosopher Dr. S Radhakrishnan, “When India is said to be a secular State, it does not mean that we reject reality of an unseen spirit or the relevance of religion to life or that we exalt irreligion.” Fundamental Duties demanded in the Indian Constitution Article 51-A, (e) that every citizen shall “promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistics and regional or sectional diversities”. Basing on these teaching a subject of eternal wisdom would enhance the spirit of the Constitution of India.
We also have a third opinion that the decision by the Chief Minister is purely political. It is trying to whip up the emotions of majority community. Religion is a personal affair of people and teaching religion is basically duty of parents and communities of religions. Teaching religion as a subject can cause problems as the teachers’ knowledge on all religions would be very limited and at times misinformation can be taught to children which may lead to communal tensions. They quote the Father of the Nation Gandhiji who wrote in Harijan(1946): “I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The State has nothing to do with it. The State will look after your secular welfare, health, communication, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not my religion. That is everybody's personal concern.”
Even though we are confused with the varied views, we need to listen to the judgemental view of the Supreme Court of India in the case of the S.R. Bommai Vs. Union of India [1994 (3) SCC -1] have while holding that the values enshrined in the Constitution imposes a positive duty on the State to ensure the attainment of Secular values, observed So the actions of the State Govt. which are calculative to subvert or sabotage secularism as enshrined in the Constitution can lawfully be deemed to give rise to a situation in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.” It has further held that the encroachment of religion into secular activities is strictly prohibited. Secularism in India has acted as a balance between socio-economic reforms. A State which doe not protect secularism or does any act to destroy secularism would, according to the Supreme Court, be amenable to action under Article 356 of the Constitution.
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