In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Institute secretary Kharak Singh referred to the proposal to introduce religious instructions based on Vedas and Upanishads in the educational institutions.

He said while there could be no objection to teaching of religion to impart moral and ethical values, basing it on the scriptures of any single religious faith would amount to discrimination against other religions.

The copies of the letter have also been sent to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Higher Education Minister Manjit Singh and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

He observed that India was a multi-religious country and the curricula must give due importance to all these religions. This would be the only way to ensure a balanced mental, intellectual and moral development of the youth as Indian nationals and to build bridges of understanding among different religious communities.

He made it clear any attempt to impose religion and culture would be viewed as an attempt to establish the hegemony of the majority community which would be resented.

Singh pointed out in the advanced countries, all major religions of the world are included in the curriculum for religious instructions, without any bias. He cited the latest example of Botswana introducing religious instructions in educational institutions from five religions including Sikhism.

He expressed the hope that Vajpayee would not allow chauvinistic tendencies to dictate the educational policy.