The Tamil Nadu government's School Education department has issued a notice to schools and colleges to 'watch over' and take action against Hindu fundamentalist groups that are trying to polarise youth on campus. According to the letter, the Hindu Ilaignar Munnani and the Hindu Manavar Munnani had planned to form units on campus to 'watch over activities of Hindu female students in colleges to prevent any love jihad activities'.
S Venkatesan, Deputy Secretary to the government said in his letter that it had been brought to the notice of the government that these two Hindu organizations were trying to integrate students by promoting moral education, devotion, mythology, epics and history of Hindu leaders. "Hindu Ilagnar Munnani wing wants to integrate college students by forming units comprising of ten students in every college. The unit will watch the activities of the Hindu female students in the college with the aim to prevent any 'love jihad' activities," the letter explained.
The government directed all schools and colleges to ensure that they do not violate guidelines by patronising such activities on campus. "I request you to prevent the polarisation of youth on the lines of religion, creed and community. We request you to take necessary action in this regard and send an action-taken report on the issue without any delay since the matter will be put forth in the next Law and order meeting," the secretary said in the letter.
Recently, there was a hue and cry over the education department issuing a notice to all schools banning the use of caste bands by students. The School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan then told media that the notice was sent without his knowledge and that age-old Hindu practices should be protected. However, he retracted his comments the next day and directed all schools to stop any sort of caste clashes or discrimination on campus.
