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WORLD December 13, 1998 VNN2673 India Hindu Group Pledges Teaching Of Scriptures FROM REUTERS INDIA, Dec 13 (VNN) — By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A hardline Indian Hindu nationalist group vowed on Wednesday to revive teaching of ancient Hindu scriptures in schools across the country. "The atmosphere is against us -- we have a huge struggle ahead," said Ashok Singhal, executive president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), at the start of a five-day conference to spread awareness of the Vedas, the traditional scriptures. The Vedas were the essence of India, but these had disappeared under the country's Western-influenced school system, the tough-talking VHP chief said. "Let us aim to set up at least one school, each with 10 children, for the study of the Vedas in all 700 districts of the country," Singhal said. The VHP is closely associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has drawn criticism for suggesting that the Vedas be taught in schools along with Sanskrit, an ancient language that is the root of many modern Indian languages. Opposition groups who accuse the BJP of a deep-seated prejudice against minority Moslems and Christians said the government was seeking to inject a Hindu bias into education. The BJP denies any bias against minorities and says it is committed to a secular India. Education experts say the government would do better to improve literacy levels in a country where nearly half the people can neither read nor write, rather than restructure the school system. Some 900 experts on the traditional scriptures and dozens of holy men gathered for the conference in a giant enclosure in western Delhi to spread awareness of the texts. Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said teaching the scriptures was not directed against any community. "We tried that every Indian should know the Vedas," Joshi said. "This has nothing to do with religion, this is for peace and happiness in not only our society but for the world." Comment on this Story This story URL: http://vaishnava-news-network.org/world/WD9812/WD13-2673.html
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