India (MNN) — A petition to prevent mandatory Hindu prayers at school was recently struck down by the high court of Chhattisgarh, India.
On June 12, the Chhattisgarh state government ordered that schools must institute prayer three times during the school day. The morning assembly will consist of patriotic songs, the Deep Mantra, Saraswait Vandana, Guru Mantra, and excerpts from the biographies of great personalities. Students are then to say a food prayer at midday meal and two more mantras at the day’s end.
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A group of social activists and former government officials petitioned the court to not allow the order to stand, arguing that it violated constitutional principles of secularism and fundamental rights. However, the Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that the petition to end these prayers was premature, since there have not yet been any cases of students being forced to recite these prayers against their wishes.
Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs Canada explains of India, “They do want to have at least the veneer of religious freedom. That was enshrined when they became a nation, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But you have this radical BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Chhattisgarh under these anti-conversion laws, and they feel that they need to instill their religion.”
The Hindu nationalist BJP argues that the prayers are for promoting moral instruction, allowing them to evade their Constitution’s religious freedom guarantees like a runner evading a defender in American football.
“They try to say, ‘Well, it’s part of our culture and that is what we’re doing. We’re not trying to indoctrinate them.’ But that’s exactly what they’re trying to do,” Musselman says.
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The legal battle may not be over
The court said they would hear another petition against the law if a student was forced to participate in the prayers.
Reverend Akhilesh Edgar said in a statement for the Progressive Christian Alliance that “The dismissal overlooks the real and immediate coercive atmosphere created by a government circular that uses the…school setting where children have little agency to opt out without fear of stigma or exclusion.”
Musselman says, “But I think we really need to be praying that this would be overturned, the government will listen to not only outside voices, but inside within the country as well, those saying ‘No, no, we don’t agree with this.’”
Pray that further challenges would come to the court order and that they would be successful. Pray also for wisdom and courage for Christian parents in Chhattisgarh, who face difficult decisions and conversations with their children.
Visit Voice of the Martyrs Canada to find out more about India and how you can pray for the people there.
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