Bengaluru: With reports of the Karnataka government planning to include Bhagwad Gita in school curriculum, Congress leader and former union minister K Rahman Khan on Saturday claimed that it’s a “cover” to bring Hindutva policy into the syllabus.
He also asserted that every religious book teaches ‘dharma’ and to say that it’s only Gita that teaches it is BJP’s “vested interest”.
While speaking to media, Khan said, “Karnataka Education Minister has spoken on the lines of Gujarat that they are 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, however, went on to stress that, “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.”
“BJP has a vested interest. New Education Policy is a cover to bring Hindutva policy in syllabus, nothing else,” added the Congress leader.
With the Gujarat government planning to introduce Bhagwad Gita in the school syllabus, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh on Friday said the state government will discuss with educationists before taking a call on doing so.
“In Gujarat they have decided to introduce moral science in three to four phases. In the first phase, they have decided to introduce Bhagwad Gita. This is what has come to my notice today. We will take a call only after discussing with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai regarding introducing ‘moral science’,” Nagesh told media.
Claiming that the cultural values among children were taking a beating, the minister said many people have demanded that moral science should be introduced.
According to him, earlier there used to be one class of moral science every week where contents related to Ramayana and Mahabharata were taught.
This article first appeared on timesnownews.com