The BJP government in Karnataka (pop.61 million), which is facing a major political crisis with the resignation of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa who has been indicted by the Lokayukta (ombudsman) Santhosh Hegde for accepting kickbacks in an Rs.16,085 crore illegal mining scam, has added to its woes by making a clumsy attempt to ‘saffronise’ school education. On June 9, the state government issued a circular stating that the Sondha Swarnavalli Math, a Sirsi-based Hindu religious trust, has been authorised to conduct compulsory one-hour Bhagvad Gita scripture classes for children in all government primary and secondary schools in the Kolar district, 100 km from Bangalore.
Promising the Bhagvad Gita Abhiyan (campaign) the government’s full support, education minister Visweshwara Hegde Kageri endorsed the proposal at a valedictory function held in Kolar on July 24. “As education minister, I totally support the campaign. The government is ready to give money to maths that support to religion and culture which the government believes in. Nobody can question it,” Kageri told the audience comprising students, parents and math volunteers.
The minister’s open and unequivocal support to infusion of hindutva ideology into school education was promptly challenged by a writ petition filed on July 12 in the Karnataka high court by the Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Management Federation (KSMEIMF). In its petition KSMEIMF challenged the constitutional validity of the circular, stating that it is “inconsistent” with the rights guaranteed under Article 29 (protection of minorities) and Article 30 (right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice) of the Constitution. Moreover, according to the petition, the state government’s June 9 circular violates Article 28 (1) which states “no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institutions wholly maintained out of state funds”.
“If this is allowed, minority institut-ions may also teach the Quran/Bible in schools where Hindus are admitted as students,” G.R. Mohan, counsel of the petitioners, contended before the court. On July 14 Justice Abdul Nazeer stayed the implementation of the circular while issuing notice to the state government.
With the matter now sub judice and confronted by public criticism, Kageri has back-tracked and toned down his rhetoric. In an interview with The Times of India (July 27) he emphasised that student participation in the programme is “absolutely voluntary”. “I want to reiterate this is not a government programme. This is an abhiyan which the Sondha Swarnavalli Math has been conducting, and we are just supporting the programme. The abhiyan is absolutely voluntary. We have also made it clear that no academic work should be affected because of Gita classes which will be held after school hours. No money has been sanctioned by the government,” he added.
This is not the first attempt of the BJP in Karnataka — the first ever BJP government in south India — to infiltrate school education with polarising hindutva ideology. In August 2009, the state government issued a circular to all government and aided higher primary schools to buy books of the Bharata Bharati series, which includes biogra-phies of Keshava Baliram Hedgewar (the founder of the Hindu right-wing RSS), Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (chief of RSS from 1940-73) and other champions of hindutva. Subsequently in August 2010, a teacher training programme designed and funded by the state education department used manuals with extensive passages from Hindu religious texts.
This saffronisation agenda of the BJP government has drawn heavy criticism from academics and educationists in Karnataka, which is ranked 16 on the Composite Educational Development Index (2009-10) developed by the Delhi-based National University of Educat-ional Planning and Administration (NUEPA). Comments Prof. A.S. Seetharamu, former professor of education at the Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and currently education advisor to the Karnataka government: “The priorities of the state government are misplaced. Instead of wasting its time and resources on propagating hindutva, the education ministry should focus its limited resources on upgrading and improving the quality of education delivered in its schools, and implemen-tation of the Right to Education Act, 2009. It’s best to leave the job of religious instruction to parents.”
Sound advice, but likely to fall on deaf ears!
Swati Roy (Bangalore)