Indian Muslim students offer 'Dua' prayers in their class room during the holy month of Ramadan at Madrasatur-Rashaad religious school in Hyderabad on July 17, 2013. PHOTO: AFP.
Teachings of the Gita will be included in the Urdu books of Class 1 and 2 according to the MP government's August 1 order.
The Gita was included in ‘Special Hindi books for class 9 - 12 to ‘Special English books for classes 11 and 12 last month. The move has been introduced in phases since 2011, when protests ensued after the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government announced that Gita would be in the curriculum.
The BJP party’s latest decisions have been criticised as “saffronisation of education” to which Education Minister Archana Chitnis responded, "This should not be taken the wrong way - this is not saffronisation, teachings from Sikhism, Christianity and other religions are also taught in our schools."
"We have picked up threads from the Gita to instill a sense of duty and responsibility, obedience, love for nature and environment in students," added the minister, saying that religion was not a factor in the decision.
COMMENTS (62)
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@I am a Khan: Animals prostate when drinking water.So one can conclude that water is God.The same water god who is presently flooding the land of the pure.Maybe it is divine justice for being impure
@sure?: It was by an order of the CM.The order was later cancelled
@I am a Khan: Pakistan call itself 'The land of the pure'.Are you pure.Secondly every one believes that his religion is the true faith and all the rest are false.On what basis do you claim that Islam is the only true religion.Can you give any proof of your contention.The simple fact is that religion is a matter of faith and not proof.
@Vikram "I remember hindu and Christian children were supposed to leave the class during Islamist period. But sometimes they stayed when teacher wanted them to."
Any idea, why the teacher wanted them to stay, I mean sometimes? By the way, it's interesting to watch the selective use of Capital letters and small letters in your post as is in 'hindu and Christian children'. Does it has anything to do with the higher status of monotheists over polytheists? Just curious?
Considering the violence and the lack of scientific thought in the Muslim world, its indeed good for the world if people learn about other philosophies and keep out some.
While the whole world is moving ahead, only one set is rigidly sticking to its 2000 year old beliefs. Yet, they do not ban modern medicines nor reject any fruits from the advancement of Science.
This order has been cancelled.
@Wise Indian:
"Bhagwat Geeta is not a religious book, its part of Indian Philosophy. Read it if you want to understand the Indian way of thinking."
You must be the one who should read Baghavat Geeta first. It is indeed the the summary of (Sanatana Darma) vedantic treatise of Hindu religious philosophy.
@عرل:
"Muslim children should not be forced to study some other religion. Even in Pakistan non Muslim children have the option of studying iklakiat instead of islamiat. Shameon iIndia for saying its a secular country when its not."
Don't all non-Muslims have to compulsorily study Pakistan studies that teaches Islam?
@someone: Animals walk on all four legs- in a prostrating/bowing position all the time. Same with trees spread out..bowing to the one & only Lord of the Universes.
Bhagwat Geeta is not a religious book, its part of Indian Philosophy. Read it if you want to understand the Indian way of thinking.
Is Islamic studies is mandatory for non Muslim students in Pakistan or not? just asking
@I am a Khan: May be your definition of divine is weird.If any religion was divine then even animals would have been prostrating. The fact that only human are stuck into this religious mumbo jumbo just proves that religion is nothing but a system made by human for human to control human just like any modern day constitution.
@عرل: yes really shame on us,,,,we allowed madarassahs,,really shame on us
Secular India.. haha
@PAKhtoon: Even we thank Mohd. Ali Jinnah for giving you pakistan,
Muslim children should not be forced to study some other religion. Even in Pakistan non Muslim children have the option of studying iklakiat instead of islamiat. Shameon iIndia for saying its a secular country when its not.
@PAKhtoon: Which specific success parameter of your country are you proud of?
@ I am a Khan....salutes to u man... These hindus of india will never understand the Islam... their newer gen is becoming athiest.....So indian trolls plz keep trolling on ET...all u r doing is making us firmer in our beliefs and drifting apart from u...:)
There is no problem in teaching Bhagwad Gita in the schools nor there is any logic in opposing it. Actually the clergy wants to keep masses far from scriptures.
EP EP EP you must delete the comments of THT .What sort of ignrant editorial team you have
Madhya Pradesh government has rescinded the order . So please change the heading.
This order has been withdrawn. Kindly update ET Web desk. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gita-in-urdu-textbooks-chouhan-withdraws-order/article4996045.ece?homepage=true
@p r sharma: No.
worshipping idols, stones, snakes, rats and cows etc is against the teachings of Islam.
Not interested in knowing what is happening in Hindustan, thank you.
@I am a Khan: @Sami Khan:
Please note : Indian government does not control the syllabus of maddrasahs. It must be the madrassah that must have decided to teach this to promote interfaith harmony and better integration of its students where they can interact with their Hindu neighbours on basis of mutual respect.
In fact personal law in India is such that each religion follows its own personal law while criminal code and tax code is unified for all Indians.
People must learn to differentiate between "teaching religions" and "teaching about religions". It is healthy to teach kids about different religions. But, it is wrong to teach religion at schools.
The problem in Muslim societies is that the people are discouraged from any academic studies on comparative religions. If they did, religious dogmatism will evaporate. They will then realize that there is nothing unique or original, as far as spirituality is concerned, in Islamic teachings that had not already been revealed in the older religions.
@PAKhtoon: ..and which lead displacement of million in the subcontinent and which sowed the seed of eternal hatred in 200 million disillusioned people, and which created a nation of 200 million with loads of insecurity in their mind, which continues to churn out militants at a rate faster than speed of light !!!
@ Khan---Gandhi himelf was 13 when he married a 12 year old girl not a 54 year old man...There a difference between two kids marrying each other and an uncle marrying a girl of his granddaughters age
I am a Khan---Uttarakhand and ‘char dham’ was called the ‘land of gods’. when the so called gods could not protect their own land from floods, it proves how false they are. -----It is called land of gods because of big number of temples and religious places..
By your logic nothing impure should happen on "PAK"istan but daily we all hear the Napak news from your land..
[[[I am a Khan--The daughter in law was of the ‘adopted’ son. God wanted to tell humans that adopted sons are not the same as real sons. ]]] So does that apply that to muslim a mother can also marry her adopted son because adopted son is not same as real sons..??
@I am a Khan:
What has happened in Kedarnath was divine will, Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem and entire earth was submerged in water during the great flood as was mentioned in the Old Testament and very few people survived the flood.
@I am a khan,,,,u r saying that god must protect his own land,,,,the real meaning of god in hinduism is the person who has mastered his senses and sacrificed his life for the welfare of people,,that person is really called god,,,to ur ignorance ,i am saying god is not a magical person who comes with magics when we r in plight,,,,god is in u,,,,not in like heaven etc etc,,,but u have to manifest the divinity with in u,,
@James: Christian schools don’t teach the Bible to non Christians
Total false...Please change ur sentence to "some Christian schools don’t teach the Bible to non Christians"
I studied in a convent run school.Even though Hindus were majority students.We were taught christianity.Our morning prayer included singing songs praising Jesus.We had Bible reading...I knew more about the story of Jonah,Noah,Lazarus,Jesus than Krishna and Rama...and that too because I watched Mahabharata,Jai Hanuman on Doordarshan
Honestly,most of the convent schools do this as per my information,none of the Hindu students raised a hue and cry about this..I dont know abt RSS run schools,so I cant comment on them
@I am a Khan: What happened to Lal Masjid, Shia shrines and Sufi shrines which were bombed by Militants do you have answers for it.
@I am a Khan: I want to ask you the same question so many people are killed everyday in the pure land of Pakistan due to terrorism, suicide bombing, poverty, polio, disease and malnutrition etc. Why is Pakistan punished by gods, why is god angry with Pakistan?
@TYT:
adulthood can come at a young age. A 16 year old led the arab army that conquered sindh. Gandhi was 13 when he married his 12 year old wife. There is a big difference between the ex wife of an adopted son and a real son. God wanted people to understand this difference. Uttarakhand and 'char dham' was called the 'land of gods'. when the so called gods could not protect their own land from floods, it proves how false they are. Pakistan is no where mentioned as the land of God.
@I am a Khan: To clarify your doubt Hindus believe in only "ONE GOD".
Names and forms are different but everything is water. You can call water in English as water same water is called as Pani in Hindi and urdu same water is called as Jal in Sanskrit but all words point to the same "water" but due to ignorance you see that there are many waters but there is only one water
Similarly water has many forms/shapes like ponds, lakes, rivers, seas and also form of ice etc. but everything is made up of water isn't it.
Water is the truth and different names and forms are its expressions.
Similarly god is one expressions are many. We Hindus see god everywhere you are god I am god whole of universe is god, there is no place other than god.
According to Hinduism god is form and formless from the formless form has been created. Like Sun and its rays, sunrays are not different from sun. World which is god's expression is not different from him.
@ My Name is Khan
The simple answer to your question/comment is because Islam is the only divine religion. Hence all humans are welcome to Islam. and humans are discouraged from leaving the path of truth and following other false paths. why do governments ban murder, rape, drugs etc? following a false religion other than the real divine religion and worshipping a false god other than the real God is an even greater sin than all these major crimes.
Dear Mr. Khan, your comments show the kind of upbringing you have had. It is Islam which claims that it is the "only divine religion." But Islam is followed by only 23 per cent of the world's population. Do you mean to say that the remaining 75 per cent are following false ideas? Islam may be divine for its adherents. But it is not so for followers of other religions. We respect Islam. But we expect the same respect from Muslims too. Your equating other religions to 'murder, rape, drugs' shows the real problem in the mindset of Muslims. If not corrected, it could lead the world down to a 'War of Islam vs the Rest'. Mark my words. ET, if you can publish the highly controversial comments of Mr. Khan, I expect you can publish my fairly balanced rejoinder too.
This is a good idea if they are teaching other religions from an objective point of view and not a point of view to prove that this religion is better than that religion. I hope they teach the children how to accept people from other religions and not discriminate them based on their beliefs and understand why the people from the other religion is doing what they are doing, rather than criticize them.
India is a secular society where everyone learns about everything at least a bit to imbibe communal harmony. I as an Indian Hindu have read about Mohammed, Jesus in my Social studies and moral science classes and also read about the songs of Sufis in my school days, our curriculum is created in such a way that each person is made aware about other religions in a positive sense which can lead to social harmony.
Sample Urdu curriculum http://www.allaboutindia.net/entrance-exams/ugc-net-syllabus-for-urdu
@p r sharma:
Christian schools don't teach the Bible to non Christians.Why should Hindus impose their holy books on non Hindus.In my school days non Christians were taught a subject called 'Moral Science' which was general to all students.The NDTV report says that children will be taught about other religions at a later stage.This can be taken with a pinch of salt.The only other religions that will be taught will be Sikhism,Jainism and Buddhism.There will be no place for Christianity and Islam
@p r sharma:
". i was not aware that Love, humanity , justice & discipline is against the religious belief of Muslims"
Idol worship and worshipping false gods with animal like forms (or any shape or form) is against the belief of muslims. it is in fact the greatest sin as per Islam. remember what happened to the pilgrims in uttarakhand? divine retribution.
@TYT:
The simple answer to your question/comment is because Islam is the only divine religion. Hence all humans are welcome to Islam. and humans are discouraged from leaving the path of truth and following other false paths. why do governments ban murder, rape, drugs etc? following a false religion other than the real divine religion and worshipping a false god other than the real God is an even greater sin than all these major crimes.
whtever they try to includes in their teaching should not be against any specific religion. every single beliefs must be respect across the world and that's a main reason in prevailing peace amongst all the humans:))
First of all religion should not be taught in secular schools. However reporting in India can be very sensational and politicized ,These reports are incomplete. Its not clear what is being suggested should be taught. If the books says that as per Gita "duty and responsibility, obedience, love for nature and environment " are encouraged , then that's okay. The history books summarize all relgions in a positive light in Indian books , from Jainism to Buddhism to Islam.
Now if only they have the guts to make teachings from islam part of the curriculum as well
Forcing it wont help in any way. If one is interested he might take it as optional subject.
@sami khan then why are christian and hindu children forced to study islamic scriptures these are books introduced to promote interfaith harmony, alas, pakistanis even ban movies that show it Go on, feed your school children with hatred like you have always been
Above is only frowned upon if you are in an Islamic state. There is no hard in teaching children about different religions.
As long as there thread from Gita does not preach "Kill the Infidels" like ebing preached in many Pakistani Madrassas, I think we will be fine.
Get your facts right.. excerpts from all the religions will be taught in the govt school of Madhya Pradesh. The media report was denied by the state government and and it was confirmed that parts of all the religions will be in the curriculum. Hope Moderators publish this. Yes teaching of all religions again in a BJP ruled state, that will make many loose their sleep.
@I am a Khan and Sami Khan So Islam is against other religions? We are a secular country with hindu majority. Just like we accomadated minorities from other religions, the minorities also have the obligation to know the faith of the majority. While we are at it, why do you Muslims keep telling non muslims that is there is no compulsion in religion and whenever someone leaves your religion or in this case Muslims learning about other religions, your faces become red?
@Sami Khan: Dude, in the West, children do learn parables. This is no different - no one is going to be taught that there is no god but Krishna and etc etc. Also there is nothing insulting to other religions in Sanatana dharma, and if it were made regular reading in Pakistan too, maybe you guys wouldn't hate the rest of the world so much.
Kids all over the world already learning their culture from Chota Bheem, Ganesh and Other Religious cartoons. Then what's new in this?
@Sami Khan: "children should not be taught what is against their religious beliefs. Subjects should be optional. that is how it works in Western world and that is best way."
Do children have religious beliefs or are these beliefs are the one their parents burden them with? The truth is no religion should be taught to children. Let them choose their faith when they grow up. After all relgion is a very personal matter. More personal than ones toothbrush.
@Sami Khan:: " children should not be taught what is against their religious beliefs."
. i was not aware that Love, humanity , justice & discipline is against the religious belief of Muslims
Thank you Quid-e-Azam, Thank you once again for giving us P A K I S T A N .....,.
and indians have the audacity to come on this site and criticize the Pakistani education curriculum. Shameful. The true face of 'secular' india :(
wonderful idea, at least children of all faith will be able to compare, WHAT SAYS WHAT.