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Maudany against teaching religion in schools

Discussion: People’s Democratic Party chairman Abdul Nasir Maudany interacting with partymen before the start of the press meet in Malappuram on Friday.

MALAPPURAM: School textbooks should not be used to propagate religious lessons and let religious heads find own platforms for that, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Abdul Nasir Maudany said here on Friday. Anti-religious or Marxist or communist lessons too should not be taught in schools, he said. He was addressing a press conference here.

Pointing out that the Class VII textbook contained anti-religious references and that it was tantamount to propagating communism in an innocuous way, the PDP leader warned that the government would not gain anything by sticking to its stand.

He demanded that the controversial parts of the textbook be withdrawn. The government stand had helped some defunct parties to get a fresh lease of life, he said.

Mr. Maudany said that his party would back the Left if the Congress sent the nation to elections by insisting on signing the nuclear deal with the U.S. He warned the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government not to precipitate elections.

“The UPA will not even get 100 seats if it drives the nation to polls by sticking to the nuclear deal. The Congress and partners, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), will be responsible if fascist and communal forces come to power,” he said.

Taking a dig at a recent statement on nuclear deal by IUML State president Sayed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal and its immediate correction by the party, Mr. Maudany said that the Muslim League would be saved if the Thangal was allowed to air his free and personal opinions.

He welcomed setting up of a High Court Bench in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the PDP leader deplored that no MP from Malabar had demanded a High Court Bench in Kozhikode.

Mr. Maudany will launch his party’s ‘Malabar Memorial Agitation’ by going on a day-long fast in front of the Secretariat on July 1. PDP workers will stage the fast at the headquarters of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad, Kasargod and Palakkad districts.

Explaining the reasons for the PDP agitation for Malabar, Mr. Maudany said that the governments that ruled the State had always ignored Malabar in all sectors, particularly education.

Making a comparison between Malabar and the rest of Kerala, Mr. Maudany said that there were 19,606 engineering seats in 66 colleges under Kerala, MG and Cochin universities.

But the number of engineering seats under Calicut and Kannur Universities were 4,846 in 18 colleges, he said. Four out of the five government medical colleges in the State were in Thiru-Kochi region.

Out of the 1,204 government medical seats, only 320 were in Malabar.

He said the neglect towards Malabar was evident in all educational branches. Kozhikode Medical College, which is the busiest medical college in the State, deserved to be upgraded to the level of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, he said.

Mr. Maudany blamed the IUML, which held sway over Malappuram for a long time, for the backwardness of Malappuram in particular.

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