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After Gujarat, Karnataka plans to teach Bhagavad Gita; Congress says ‘not necessary’

The Opposition party points out epics are already part of the syllabus and says though ‘people have a right to know about the culture of all religions, there is no need for including the whole the Gita in the curriculum.

A day after Gujarat’s BJP government announced plans to introduce the Bhagavad Gita in schools, the party’s government in Karnataka has hinted at similar plans, with the education minister saying the matter will be discussed with the chief minister and textbook committee members.

“The Bhagavad Gita has been read by people for many years in this country. The Gita is read by all people and the book is translated in all the languages across the world. To improve the morale of students, we will discuss this with the academicians and experts first,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh said on Friday about teaching the scripture in state-run schools as part of “moral science” lessons.

However, he clarified that the Gita would not be included in the curriculum in the current academic year. “We will not include the Gita in this academic year, but we will include it in coming years while introducing moral science to school students,” he added.
State Congress chief DK Shivakumar opposed the government’s plan saying that excerpts from the Ramayana and other epics were already part of the school syllabus. “No need of changing the curriculum or adding new chapters like the Gita to the school syllabus. People have a right to know about the culture of all religions. It is not wrong, but now there is no need for including the whole the Gita in the curriculum,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar also objected to the BJP “taking credit for introducing the Gita”, saying that Kengal Hanumanthaiah, the state’s second chief minister, had distributed copies of the holy book. “This is not new. Earlier, Kengal Hanumanthaiah had distributed the Bhagavad Gita for two rupees. There is no need for the BJP government to take credit by including the Gita in textbooks,” he said.

Gujarat announced on Thursday that it would introduce the Bhagavad Gita from Class 6 and linked the move to the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020.