Muslims Protest Schools' Hindu Prayers
"I am troubled by the Government of Gujarat's circular calling for Saraswati Puja in Ahmedabad schools," Juzar Bandukwala, a retired professor and civil rights activist, told Anadolu Agency.
“Many Muslim families could react in panic by stopping their children attending schools. That would be a tragedy for the community.”
The Ahmedabad school board, an educational board of local civic body, issued a circular to all city schools on Jan. 19 to perform prayers in the school prayer gathering to Hindu deity Saraswati, goddess of knowledge, on Saturday, January 24.
"Vasant Panchami is the occasion to remember goddess of knowledge Maa Saraswati Devi," the circular issued by the educational board read.
“To make students understand the importance of education, schools need to organize Saraswati Puja and make students recite prayers of Saraswati during prayer gathering. Also, make them understand how Vasant Panchami is celebrated in other states.”
Bandukwala protested the new call to introduce Hindu prayers in schools as a plan by the extreme Hindu groups and ruling BJP to provoke minorities.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a hands-on leader, who keeps eye on every vital development all over the country," said Bandukwala, whose house was attacked during 2002 inter-communal riots that killed at least 2,000 in Gujarat.
“I refuse to believe that this anti-minority hatred does not have his consent.”
It follows earlier calls to perform mass Surya Namaskar or Sun Worship in all schools in Madhya Pradesh last January 12.
While the state government claimed it was a yogic exercise aimed at improving students’ health and concentration, the Muslims in the state have slammed the government’s move saying it is a religious program imposed on the children of minority communities.
Controversial
Making the call for Hindu prayers in secular schools, the state government threatened a secular revolution by hurting the religious sentiments of minorities.
"The order is an attack on secularism as enshrined in Indian constitution. It is an attack on fundamental rights of Muslims," a senior college student said on condition of anonymity.
"The constitution gives freedom to all faiths to pray according to their beliefs," he said, adding that the move was aimed at introducing religious prayer in secular schools.
The school board of Ahmedabad civic body runs over 400 primary schools in Gujarat’s biggest city, including over 60 Urdu-medium schools, where 15,000 Muslim students study.
The student added that the majority of Urdu-medium schools in Ahmedabad city did not obey the order Saturday.
"Our sole aim is to promote the quest for knowledge among children and not to hurt the followers of any religion," Jagdish Bhavsar, chairman of the board, was quoted as saying by weekly news magazine Outlook on Friday.
LD Desai, a member of the board, defended the order, claiming that Saraswati is the goddess of education and schools are temples of education.
"Thus, we just want students to understand the importance of education by remembering the goddess through prayer on that day," Desai said.
There are some 180 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, making up 13% of the country’s population. Christians make up less than 3 %.
Source: On Islam
