Press Release by the Hindu Council UK
November 29, 2007
Britain's first state-funded Hindu Primary
school, set to open in Harrow, north London, in September 2008, has outlined
an admissions policy the Hindu Council UK (HCUK) says may rule out applications
from the vast majority of British Hindu children in the area. HCUK is also
concerned the policy may cause division within the local Hindu community.
The Krishna-Avanti school is expected to be
oversubscribed when it opens and HCUK has no argument with priority being
given to children from 'practising Hindu families.' However, the school's
definition of a 'practising Hindu' is not one that could be said to be acceptable
to the majority of Hindus either worldwide or here in Britain.
According to the admissions policy document,
the Krishna-Avanti school defines practising Hindus as those who follow a
version of Hinduism requiring daily practice of deity worship and prayer either
in the temple or at home; undertake weekly temple-related charity work; participate
fortnightly in temple programmes; accept and put into practice the teachings
of the Vedic scriptures, in particular the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita;
and abstain from meat, fish, eggs, alcohol and smoking.
The admissions policy also allows for available
places to be filled by children from families 'broadly following' the tenets
of Hinduism. But even this requires them to attend a temple monthly, be vegetarian,
and attend a local temple for the festivals of Diwali, Janmasthami and Ramnavmi.
Rather than reflecting the mainstream, such
definitions of practising Hindus reflect the beliefs and practices of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) a new Hindu religious
movement founded in the 1960s. Perhaps better known as the Hare Krishnas,
this particular Hindu group is represented strongly on the Board of Directors
of the I-Foundation, the charitable organisation that will run the Krishna-Avanti
school. Ten places at the new school will be reserved exclusively for children
of families at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the temple headquarters of ISKCON in Letchmore
Heath, Hertfordshire.
Jay Lakhani, HCUK's Director for education
says: -
"While HCUK has no problem with the I-Foundation
reserving a stated ten places out of thirty at the school for children of
families at Bhaktivedanta Manor, we believe it is unfair to rule out other
Hindus by imposing on them the strict rules of one particular, minority Hindu
group in order for their children to attend. Because the Krishna-Avanti school
was offered state-funding and is being allowed to open as a 'Hindu' rather
than an 'ISKCON' school, that is what it should be, a truly Hindu school that
serves and reflects the wider Harrow Hindu community with its kaleidoscopic
Hindu diversity."
In particular, says Mr Lakhani, the current
admissions policy as it stands would specifically rule out children from the
following Hindu families: -
a.. Those who do not take a strict devotional
approach to Hinduism
b.. Arya Samajist Hindus who do not believe
in deity worship
c.. Shiva devotees (many Tamil Hindus) and
Mother Goddess devotees (many Bengalis) for whom temple attendance at only
RamNavmi, Janmasthami and Diwali celebrations would be too restrictive a condition
d.. Those who are not strict vegetarians and
eat - as many Hindus do - meat (excluding beef), fish, eggs and egg by-products,
or who occasionally drink alcohol
Despite believing that multi-faith rather
than single faith schools would be better for community integration and cohesion,
HCUK originally supported creation of the Krisha-Avanti school on the understanding
that it would be truly open to and reflect the diversity of the wider Hindu
community. As this openness now appears to be under threat, the HCUK Executive
has raised its concerns with the I-Foundation. The I-Foundation has assured
HCUK the policy will be discussed further at a future meeting. However, no
date has been set for this meeting and it is not clear whether representations
will be permitted from local, non-ISKCON Hindus not connected with the I-Foundation.
