Govt. Forces Hindu Schools to Mourn for Pope
Anonymous Tamilnadu Hindu Ashram School Headmaster
The Directorate of Schools in Tamilnadu has issued a GO directing all schools to fly the Indian flag half-mast on Friday, 8 April 2005 to mourn the death of Pope John Paul II. Schools have been asked to send a "compliance report" to confirm that they have observed the mourning.
One wonders why a secular government should issue GOs to secular government schools and to private religious schools (which are not govt.aided in anyway) to mourn the passing away of a religious head of a foreign religious institution?
Will the government declare state mourning if one of the important religious heads of the Hindu, Buddhist or Jain community passes away?
Moreover, the average Hindu will find it embarrassing to protest against such compulsory mourning imposed on him for it goes against his natural non-aggressive bent of mind.
Is there a dignified way of protesting against this GO or a safe way of non-compliance without inviting the vengeful wrath of the Jayalalitha government as witnessed in the Shankaracharya case?
This is yet another illustration of how helpless and discriminated Hindu institutions feel in the present political atmosphere in India.
The Directorate of Schools in Tamilnadu has issued a GO directing all schools to fly the Indian flag half-mast on Friday, 8 April 2005 to mourn the death of Pope John Paul II. Schools have been asked to send a "compliance report" to confirm that they have observed the mourning.
One wonders why a secular government should issue GOs to secular government schools and to private religious schools (which are not govt.aided in anyway) to mourn the passing away of a religious head of a foreign religious institution?
Will the government declare state mourning if one of the important religious heads of the Hindu, Buddhist or Jain community passes away?
Moreover, the average Hindu will find it embarrassing to protest against such compulsory mourning imposed on him for it goes against his natural non-aggressive bent of mind.
Is there a dignified way of protesting against this GO or a safe way of non-compliance without inviting the vengeful wrath of the Jayalalitha government as witnessed in the Shankaracharya case?
This is yet another illustration of how helpless and discriminated Hindu institutions feel in the present political atmosphere in India.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home