The Indian bishops’ recommendations have been widely hailed as a bold initiative by the Church and are in stark contrast to Hindu nationalists of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to delete the word “secular” from the preamble to the Indian Constitution.
The secular media applauded the Church guidelines with front-page headlines such as “Church calls for making constitution a shield” and “Recite preamble, don’t force Christian traditions: Catholic body to its schools.”
Besides calling for respecting “all faith traditions without any discrimination [and to] not force our religious traditions on students of other faiths,” the guidelines also prescribe the promotion of “religious and cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity with separate interreligious prayer rooms in the school, celebrating all important religious festivals.”
“Reciting the preamble is a great idea that the government and Hindu schools should also follow instead of religious morning assembly,” remarked John Dayal, a Catholic columnist, in his commentary in The Wire news portal on April 8.
However, he decried what he said was “a response to the demands that have been made on institutions by state governments and non-state actors [Hindu fundamentalist groups].”
“Article 30 allows all religious and linguistic minorities to run educational institutions to nurture their core values, including faith, for future generations,” Dayal said.
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