‘How can govt give away Bhagwad Gita in colleges?’

NAGPUR:FACING attack over a circular by the state education department asking non-aided private colleges in Mumbai to distribute copies of Bhagwad Gita to their students, the state on Thursday said the copies were not given out by the government, but by a trust from Bhiwandi.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan and other Opposition leaders alleged the BJP was bringing its “saffron” agenda to school/college curriculums.

Talking to mediapersons outside the Assembly Hall, Chavan and another Congress leader Nasim Khan said that “as India is a secular country, distribution of a holy book of a particular religion in educational institute is unconstitutional. India runs on the Constitution written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and if any book is to be distributed, it should be the Constitution”. They asked if the government would allow distribution of Quran or Bible in educational institutions.

Chavan said this initiative could not have gone ahead without the knowledge of the education minister. “There is an effort to create a problem among different religions. The BJP knows it will not get elected in 2019 and hence it is pursuing such communal initiatives,” said Cha-

van.

Refuting the allegations, education minister Vinod Tawde said, “Some MLAS from the Congress, NCP and SP are giving statements about distribution of 18 parts of Bhagavad Gita

in colleges. Bhakti Vedanta Trust from Bhiwandi wanted to distributebhagwad Gitaandwe provided them with a list of colleges. If someone says they want to distribute Quran and Bible, we’ll give them the list too.”