Targeting young minds: BJP plans to introduce Bhagavad Gita as subject in Gujarat

The Gujarat State government has announced a plan to introduce the Bhagavad Gita as a compulsory subject from class VI to class XII in State board schools. Government rationale Jitu Vaghani, Gujarat’s Education Minister, justified the move, saying: “ Shrimad Bhagavad Gita’s values, principles and importance are accepted by people of all religions. Students of arts and humanities will aim to learn more science and all will make an effort to incorporate more vocational subjects and soft skills.” Furthermore, the policy says: “Imaginative and flexible curricular structures will enable creative combinations of disciplines for study, and would offer multiple entry and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning.” The essence of the Gita According to historical material, the Bhagavad Gita, directly translated, means “The Song of God”. Therefore, my resistance to the introduction of the Gita is as follows: when I am going for a secular education, why should I have to learn about a religious text, more so when there is no scope for critical engagement and a rational debate on unanalysable categories and concepts like God, self and the world?” Father Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit and human rights activist who teaches in Ahmedabad, said that if the intention was to learn lessons from religious texts, then the government should not stop at the Gita, it should introduce a course in world religion. Here is where they can shape gullible and naive minds.” As to why the Bhagavad Gita in particular, he said: “It is clearly to show the Hindus that we are giving the Hindu faith importance.