The BJP-led Chhattisgarh government's direction to all government schools to begin the day with Vedic mantras, challenged as a violation of the Constitution's fundamental rights and as a measure detrimental to the secular character of educational institutions, suffered a setback on Thursday when the Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that school children cannot be compelled to recite Hindu prayers in government-run educational institutions.
Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad delivered the ruling while hearing a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of a June 12 circular issued by the State School Education Department.
The circular had directed government schools across the state to introduce the daily recitation of Vedic mantras, including the Gayatri Mantra and Saraswati Vandana, from the new academic session.
During the proceedings, the state government informed the Court that the circular had not yet been implemented in any government school. Recording the submission that no coercive implementation had taken place, the Court disposed of the petition but granted the petitioners liberty to approach it again should any child be compelled to participate in the religious recitations.
Counsel for the petitioners, Aamir Khan, said the Court had unequivocally recognised that while students professing the Hindu faith were free to recite such prayers, children belonging to other religions could not be coerced into doing so. Referring to Article 28 of the Constitution, he argued that no religious instruction could be made compulsory in educational institutions.
The petitioners contended that the government's directive violated the Constitution's guarantees of religious freedom and equality, besides undermining the secular foundations of public education. The petition was filed by former Chhattisgarh Waqf Board chairman Abdul Salam Rizvi, along with Mahendra Chhabda and social activist Shafique Ahmed.
The impugned circular envisaged a school day structured around religious observances, including morning recitations of the Deep Mantra, Saraswati Vandana and Guru Mantra, a Bhojan Mantra before lunch, and the Gayatri Mantra and Shanti Mantra at the close of the day.