Gujarat Department of Education notice instructing schools to organize ‘Bharat Mata Pujan’ and lectures from August 1 is opposed by Gujarat Rajya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh (GRPSS) and Jamiat Ulama Gujarat as both oppose politicization of education to be. Jamiat has demanded that it should not be mandatory.
Joint Director of the Department of Education has ordered all district education officials to ensure that Bharat Mata Pujan is organized in schools after prayer in a notice dated July 25, 2022.
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The notice states: “On the request letter of the Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM), as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Bharat Mata Pujan and a lecture, a lecture should be organized in every school. Such programs will arouse patriotism.”
“The notification was also opposed by GRPPS,” said Digvijaysinh Jadeja, president of GRPSS. He firmly believes that education should not be politicized and that “this is an attempt to give the RSM the space to spread its wings in schools. RSM is promoted by Sangh,” claimed Jadeja.
Jadeja also said: “When we opposed the notification, the education minister requested support for nationalism.”
Jamiat Ulama Gujarat Secretary General Nisar Ahmed Ansari has opposed the notification in a letter to the Joint Director (Education), stating: “We will wholeheartedly participate in cultural programs organized to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, but we are against the Bharat Mata Pujan. The said report was made at the request of one organization, no other organizations or stakeholders have been confided in. Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh represents all walks of life.”
The letter further states: “In Islam idol worship is prohibited, Muslim believers cannot worship idols. The said notice is also contrary to the Indian Constitution which gives the right to practice the religion one believes in. Nowhere in the constitution is there any mention of the worship of Bharat Mata. Our prayer is to withdraw the report.”
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