Moral education imp in competitive era: Bommai defends Bhagavad Gita in schools

Amid the heated debate over the introduction of the Bhagavad Gita in schools, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai defended the move pointing out that in a competitive era, it is important to impart moral education among children.

On Saturday (March 19) the CM told reporters at Devatkal village, that if Bhagavad Gita is incorporated in the textbook, “it will improve the intelligence level among the children. What is wrong in it?”

Pointing out that the Bhagavad Gita has already been incorporated in moral education lessons in Gujarat, he said that the education department is also making preparations to introduce it in our state. “Let them give their report first. We will then take a decision in this regard,” he added, urging people not to raise a lot of hue and cry over this and create “unnecessary confusion”.

“Personality development is a motto of the state government and it will take a suitable decision towards it,” he added. The Karnataka government is mulling over introducing the Bhagavad Gita in all state schools as part of moral science education.

Reacting to this development, Karnataka Congress leader and ex-Union minister K Rahman Khan tweeted that the BJP government has spoken on the lines of Gujarat that they’re going to introduce Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus.

Rahman Khan said that there is nothing wrong if they prescribe a religious book but India is a country of diversity with several religions. Moreover, every religious book teaches ‘Dharma’, you can’t say it’s only Gita that teaches ‘Dharma’ & Indian culture. “All religious books should be taught to students,” he said in his tweet, adding that BJP has vested interest.

“New Education Policy is a cover to bring Hindutva policy in syllabus, nothing else”, he said.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka CM and state opposition  leader Siddaramaiah took the middle path in his tweet and said they were not opposing moral teachings. “We believe in the constitution and secularism. Whether they teach Bhagavad Gita, Quran or Bible, we don’t have any objection,” he said, adding that the Karnataka government has not taken any decision on teaching Bhagavad Gita so far.

Earlier, primary and secondary education minister BC Nagesh said that the government is thinking of introducing moral science education from the academic year 2023-24 in all the state schools since there has been a demand for it.

“Moral education may include Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata or any other holy books such as Quran and the Bible that teach values,” the minister said, adding that he will discuss the matter with CM Bommai and academicians before arriving at a decision. And added that the experts will decide on what should be included in the moral science education.