BHOPAL: Bhagwad Gita, the teachings of Hindu scripture, will be made mandatory in madrassahs of Madhya Pradesh, according to the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, NDTV reported.
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.
