Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has asked the state government and the Centre to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision to introduce the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita in school prayer programs and as part of the curriculum.

The court posted the matter to July 3 and asked the government to file their reply by that time.

The PIL was filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Gujarat, which argued that prescribing a Hindu religious text for schoolchildren violated constitutional principles of equality, fraternity, and secularism. The petitioner organization demanded the quashing of the resolution mandating learning the Gita and stated that the decision is against the National Education Policy’s principle of religious neutrality and prohibition of religious instruction in schools. DeshGujarat