National convention against sex education in Delhi ?Don't impose degenerate western culture on Indian schools?

Top educationists, scholars, senior politicians, social activists and reputed intellectuals including former Chief Justice of India Shri R.C. Lahoti and representatives from Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and several other communities have strongly warned the Union HRD Ministry and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) not to introduce sex education in the name of Adolescent Education Programme at all.

Speaking at a national convention held in New Delhi on July 14 under the chairmanship of noted Jain saint Shri Vijayratnasunder Surishwar, they along with the representatives of 26 other organisations warned the government not to play with the fire of sex education under the influence of some global conspirators. ?We shall take all steps including demonstration against NCERT and CBSE, countrywide protest meetings and mass awareness programmes, raising the issue in Parliament and filing cases in the court, to stop the government from taking such a disastrous and suicidal step,? the convention unanimously declared.

Speaking at the convention, Shri Surishwar said if the sex education was introduced in any form, episodes like Nithari village would repeat in every school and locality of the country. He said just withdrawing students from the schools where sex education is being introduced is not enough, we need to firmly ensure that it is not introduced at all in any school. ?It is claimed that the objective of imparting sex education is protecting the students from HIV/ AIDS, but the syllabus prepared for it is so much indecent, damaging and obscene that it will increase the disease on a much higher speed. We don'twant that abortion centres should be opened in schools like that in Britain, morning pills need to be given to tennage girls like that in France, increase in number of unmarried mothers like that in America and teachers sexually exploit their students like that in New Zealand,? he said. He added that the number of AIDS patients has increased because of killing the traditional Indian culture. The Jain saint has persuaded the governments of nine states including Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to ban sex education in their respective states.

Former Union HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi viewed that sex education would transform the student-teacher relations into that of a man and a woman and it appears the government wants to import the western culture of sexual relations between students and teachers into India. He said introduction of sex education is what multinationals did to create the desire for sex among teenagers to sell their products. It is not sex education but education to sell condoms, he said adding that the MNCs are behind the inflated figures of HIV/AIDS, which have now suddenly fell down from 57 lakh to 24 lakh in India. He said there is no need for separate curriculum on sex education because there is enough knowledge on sex and reproductive body functions in biology taught in schools. ?It will adversely damage the rich family system of Bharat. It is also a conspiracy to import the single-parent system of the west. There are about 40 per cent such parents in America alone where it became a major issue during the Presidential polls. In fact our family system has preserved Bharat as Bharat. If it breaks, it will also take away morality and samskars with it,? he added. The senior BJP leader exhorted the parents to withdraw their wards from CBSE schools where sex education is being taught.

Justice (retd.) R.C. Lahoti said India has not given HIV/AIDS to the world. If the world had followed the Indian tradition of one wife or one husband, this disease would not have developed at all. He said 64.8 per cent teenage girls in Britain were pregnant in 1998 and it is increasing at a rate of four per cent every year. It is 83 per cent in America and in Canada it has assumed a very alarming proportion. ?Now abortion centers are being opened in schools also there. Similarly, after promoting relations between gays and lesbians now sex between same blood relations is also being advocated there. The family and marriage systems have totally collapsed in the west. A number of male and female teachers are being pushed behind the bars on the charges of sexually exploiting their students. Do we want this to happen in India also? There is a need to nip it in the bud,? he said.

NDA convener George Fernandes stressed the need for a nationwide protest against the introduction of sex education. Shri Dina Nath Batra, convener of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, said the Samiti would not allow the introduction of sex education at all.

Shri O.P. Gupta, former Indian ambassador, said after introduction of sex education many parents may file cases against teachers under IPC for outraging the modesty of their girls. It can also cause religious and sectarian conflicts. Shri Rajendra Patani, Shiv Sena MLA from Mumbai, said it would not only damage the marriage system but will also increase the market of condoms even among teenagers. Smt. Pratibha Naithani, Principal of St. Xavier'sSchool, Mumbai, through a PowerPoint presentation explained the objectionable passage from the Adolescent Education Programme prepared by HRD Ministry. Dr Kapil Kapoor, former vice chancellor of JNU, described those who have planned and designed this programme as deshdrohi (traitors) and a case of treason should be initiated against them.

Shri Intizar Naeem, assistant secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said the countries where girls below the age of 12 years become pregnant could not be followed at all. He said it should be countered unitedly by all the countrymen. Dr Tara Singh, stressed the need for putting a check on cultural pollution being spread through newspapers and TV channels. Dr Thailma, representative of Archbishop, Mumbai, said the Adolescent Education Programme prepared by the government, concentrates mainly on condom, which scientifically does not give 100 per cent guarantee against HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy. Shri Purushottam Mulloli, convener of JACKINDIA, said the number of HIV/AIDS patients has suddenly come down from 57 lakh to 24 lakh in India because the conspiracy on the part of officials has successfully been exposed.