Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for religious education in school

GUWAHATI: With Assam witnessing communal clashes, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi stressed on the need for the introduction of religion as a subject in educational institutions to foster awareness about each others' religion, a move, he said could foster harmony in a multi religious society like India and Assam in particular.

Gogoi said this while launching a five-month long Peace Awareness and Vocational Training Programme for Madrasa students, undertaken by the Guwahati based Centre for Development and Peace Studies, a non-profit society. The project supported by the British Deputy High Commission, Kolkata has been initiated in collaboration with Assam Markazul Uloom (Islampur Madrasa), Guwahati.

The Chief Minister also said there is need for having a platform for dialogue among different communities and said there could be something like religious council that can be put in place. "No religion teaches people to hate one another, and therefore, it is necessary to appreciate the positive qualities that are taught by different religious beliefs", he said.

Gogoi said skill development hold the key in providing livelihood options to youths and Madrasa students are no exception. "Unemployment is a big problem and we must give utmost importance on education to reduce conflict. Government is giving importance on vocational and skill development training", he said.