Catholic bishops have called on thousands of Church-run schools in India to promote religious harmony after the institutions faced the ire of right-wing Hindu groups over alleged religious conversions. “We need to respect all faith traditions without discrimination,” the bishops said in guidelines issued to schools on April 1.”Our primary objective behind issuing the guidelines is to inform about our legacy to our students and teachers,” Father Maria Charles, secretary of the Office of Education and Culture of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), told UCA News on April 4.The Church runs more than 50,000 educational institutions, including schools and 400 colleges, six universities and six medical schools.
“These guidelines are applicable to our higher education institutions as well,” Charles said. “We plan to promote inclusiveness in our academic institutions.” The bishops wanted daily recitation of the preamble of the constitution which says India is a “secular socialist democratic nation” in the assemblies. On several occasions, the prelates have strongly denied allegations of religious conversion by Hindu groups and have termed them as “false propaganda to tarnish the image of Christian schools.” Recently, Christian schools in the northeastern state of Assam came in for a co-ordinated attack by right-wing Hindu groups who wanted to remove all Christian symbols from Christian schools. They demanded priests, nuns and religious brothers working in these schools to wear traditional dress instead of religious habits. Eleven Indian states, most of them ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have enacted a draconian anti-conversion law. Persecution and violence against Christians have increased since 2014, when Modi first came to power. Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in office with the general election due to take place between April 19 and June 1. “Now we see a social awakening within society and a change in perception. Therefore, it is imperative to issue these guidelines,” Charles said. The bishops in their 13-page guideline urged schools to “promote diversity.”