It's incorrect to 'paint all Christian schools with Bible colour', says Archbishop

Bengaluru: The Archbishop of Bengaluru, Peter Machado, said on Thursday that giving "Bible colour" to all Christian schools in the state is not a good idea.

In response to the Clarence High School controversy over making the Bible mandatory for all students, the archbishop stated that religion and morality cannot be separated. Clarence High School has a 100-year history.

He further stated that the 75 per cent of the children studying in the school follow Christianity. It is incorrect to charge that the Bible is made compulsory of all students. It is not mandatory for students belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities.

"It is not correct to paint all Christian schools with Bible colour. If the government wants to investigate the matter, let them conduct an inquiry. Let them find out how many children have been converted," he said.

First Churches were targetted, later they were attacked and destroyed. "Now they have focused on our educational institutions. Former Vice-President L.K. Advani had stated that he studied in a Christian school. Likewise, Union Minister Piyush Goel also studied in a Christian institution. The Christian education institutions have given many dignitaries to the society, the Archbishop said.

A complaint was filed by a Hindu group alleginging that Bible reading is made compulsory for all students and admission is being denied if the consent is not given for students to undergo preaching of Christian religious matters.

Education Minister B.C. Nagesh has also reacted sharply to the issue and stated that he has sent a notice to the school regarding making Bible compulsory. The Department of Education has also given a direction for the Block Education Officers (BEO) to inspect all the Christian institutions in the state regarding the issue of making reading of Bible compulsory for schoolchildren.