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School wants students to say Bharat Mata ki Jai to get admissions
Shree Patel Vidhyarthi Ashram, an educational trust in Amreli headed by Gujarat BJP leader Dilip Sanghani has declared that students seeking admission to its institutes will have to write ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ on their application forms, or lose admission. It has raised an outcry.
The raging ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ controversy reached a new low in Gujarat on Sunday. An educational trust in Amreli — Shree Patel Vidhyarthi Ashram Trust headed by Gujarat BJP leader Dilip Sanghani — has not spared even the Right to Education from the ambit of this controversy and declared that students seeking admission to its institutes will have to write 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' on their application forms, or lose admission.
Political observers feel that this move by Dilip Sanghani maybe have political overtures and maybe motivated by wanting to get back in the limelight after being sidelined by the state BJP president Vijay Rupani. Sanghani, justified the decision stating it was the 104-year-old trust's attempt to inspire nationalism in its students.
Elaborating, he said, "In the time when anti-national sloganeering is gaining momentum on educational campuses, we want our students to respect their country. So, we have decided to give admission only to those students who write Bharat Mata ki Jai. The new rule will be implemented from upcoming term. Students who don't write Bharat Mata ki Jai on the admission forms will not get admission."
With a nationally raging controversy, it is but natural for opposition parties to jump in the fray and expectingly it has elicited a reaction from the Congress. Congress MLA from Amreli Paresh Dhanani said, "BJP must stop disrespecting the constitution which has given all religions and caste an equal status. It doesn't require us to prove our patriotism by chanting some slogan. This decision by the trust headed by Sanghani proves that BJP does not believe in India's democracy.BJP is trying to divide the country by engaging people in illusive democracy for their political gain."
Meanwhile, State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama opined that it is a decision taken by an independent organisation and should not be seen through the political glasses. When asked whether the trust's decision was in violation of the students' constitutional rights, Chudasama said, "I have not received any complaints. If and when we get one, a decision will be taken."
Sajjad Heera, executive committee member of the state BJP Minority Cell said: "There is nothing wrong in chanting or writing Bharat Mata Ki Jai. In Islam also, it is said that we should bow down to our motherland. There is nothing wrong in loving one's motherland. Every Muslim in India likes to say Bharat Mata ki Jai. Those who don't want to say it are just trying to create unnecessary problem."
Neutral views by legal experts concur that the trust's decision is unconstitutional. High Court Senior advocate Girish Patel said, "Indian constitution has given every citizen the freedom of expression and at the same time, it has also given us the freedom to not express. You cannot force someone to speak or write anything against their faith or wish. If any student seeking admission in the said institute is denied that following his/her not writing Bharat Mata Ki Jai, it will be breach of freedom of religion/ expression."