Indian archbishop against imposing of Gita in schools

(March 12, 2010) The chief minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is contemplating whether to make the Hindu holy book, Bhagavad Gita, compulsory as a school text book of moral science, but Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal argues that in that case the sacred books of other religions should also be included in moral science as there are values in every religion. The proposal of Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, is strongly supported by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) an extremist Hindu group whose local leader Mohan Bhagwat recently said that non-Hindus cannot be considered real Indians. Bishop Cornelio, president of the Catholic Bishops' Council of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states, told AsiaNews that there was nothing wrong with the Chief Minister introducing the Bhagavad Gita in schools, but the moral science program should not include just one religion but the moral values of all religions as there are values in every religion and all religions can enrich each one of us. He said the chief minister cannot impose one particular religion on everyone, and added he would insist that the texts from the Koran, the Bible, the sacred books of Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and others also be introduced.