Reacting to a controversy arising from alleged imposition of Bible as a compulsory subject on all students in the Clarence High School, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bengaluru Peter Machado, on Thursday, said it is not fair to paint all Christian schools in the state with “Bible colour”.
The archbishop, however, contended that it is not possible to separate religion from morality.
Clarence High School has a history of 100 years. Pointing out that 75 per cent of the students of the school belong to Christian community, the archbishop said it is not mandatory for students belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities. Hence, it is incorrect to say that the Bible is compulsory for all the students.
“It is not correct to paint all Christian schools with Bible colour. If the government wants to investigate the matter, let them conduct an inquiry. Let them find out how many children have been converted,” he said.
Recounting how Churches were targetted for mob attacks and destroyed in the past, he said, “Now, they have focused on our educational institutions. Former Vice-President L K Advani had stated that he studied in a Christian school. Likewise, Union Minister Piyush Goel also studied in a Christian institution. The Christian education institutions have given many dignitaries to the society.”
A Hindu group registered a complaint alleging that Bible reading is made compulsory for all students and admission is being denied to the students who don’t give their the consent to undergo preaching of Christian religious matters.
The state Department of Education has given a direction for the Block Education Officers (BEO) to inspect all the Christian institutions in the state regarding the issue of making reading of Bible compulsory for schoolchildren. Education Minister B C Nagesh has said that he has sent a notice to the school regarding making Bible compulsory.