CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India on April 1 issued new guidelines for Catholic schools to increase diversity and respect for other religions in response to the socio-cultural, religious, and political tensions that are rising in the country.
The Indian Express reported that the guidelines include encouraging schools to promote religious tolerance and avoid forcing Christian traditions and practices on students of other religions. The Conference suggested setting up an inter-religious prayer room and having students recite the Preamble to the Constitution during morning assemblies.
The news outlet reported that such guidelines have never before been issued.
“[T]hese guidelines have been introduced against the backdrop of recent attacks and protests against principals and staff of educational institutions run by the Christian community,” The Indian Express reported.
According to the article, in February, Bajrang Dal activists in Tripura protested after a teacher at a private Christian missionary-run school allegedly took a wristband with a Hindu symbol on it away from a student. In Assam, which is another state in India, another Hindu group demanded that Christian schools remove all Christian symbols and religious habits of on-campus priests, nuns and brothers.
The Conference also recommended increasing security measures at schools, including security systems, surveillance cameras, locking doors and procedures for checking in visitors.
Fr. Maria Charles SDB, the Conference’s national secretary, told The Indian Express that the guidelines serve as a “gentle reminder” and “wakeup call” for Catholic schools.
“These are not suggested as a method of defence mechanism, rather reminding all the schools, how they need to be, how they need to keep everything in order,” he said. “Certain events here and there which have happened, which are not that palatable. And we, we need to be always worried about our students as well as the teachers.”
Fr. Charles added that Catholic schools need to be more sensitive given the current political and social situation in India.
“It is also a reminder to the principals to be more sensitive, because the majority of our students and teachers are always from other faiths,” Fr. Charles said. “All the more reason why we also need to be more sensitive. We have been teaching students the Preamble [to the Indian Constitution] for many years, not just now. For many years, we have believed that all our students need to know the Preamble and be aware of the constitutional values.”
CatholicVote reported that Christians have increasingly come under persecution in India due to ethnic and religious clashes. The state government of Manipur attempted to require public employees to work on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, but it was met with opposition from local Christians. Ethnic clashes have also led to the burning of hundreds of Christian churches and homes in Manipur.
