Inquire how many students in Christian schools have converted to Christianity in 100 yrs: Archbishop
Bengaluru, Apr 28: Archbishop Peter Machado on Thursday asked the Karnataka government to inquire into the number of students, who studied at Christian schools and have converted to Christianity in the last 100 years, as he defended the institution, which allegedly insisted on carrying or studying Bible as part of the curriculum.
He said the institution conducted Bible or religious classes for Christian students before or after the school hours, and such a practice that required them to carry Bible existed in the past, but not now.
Clarence High School, which has been served a notice by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education said it has sought the opinion of legal advisors to respond to it.
"...there is nothing like the Bible or religious education. We impart the same education to everyone. We cannot differentiate between spirituality and morality ," Machado told reporters here.
Noting that 75 per cent students studying in the Clarence school are Christians, he said, "it was prescribed that Bible be brought because, in our Christian institutions we have religion class for Christian students either before or after the class..."
"However, from last year onwards the management has seen to it that no mention is made about the Bible at all and so the Children if they want they can bring," he added.
Referring to the education department order to conduct an inquiry to ascertain whether the Bible was used and religion was taught in schools, the Bishop said, "it is not concerning only this school, but all Christian schools in Karnataka. To take it from one school and paint all schools in the same colour is not right."
"If the government wants to probe, surely conduct an inquiry in this school, and one of the questions they should put forth is how many students have converted in the last hundred years, how many of them have become Christians," he added.
There are also allegations that the school asked parents to give an undertaking that they have no objection to the study of the Bible by their children.
Some parents have objected to it, following which the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti complained to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, B C Nagesh, seeking an investigation.
Principal of the School, Jerry George Mathew said the allegations made of a conduct other than subscribing to the discipline and culture of the school voluntarily, is only an "unfortunate misinterpretation".
The school is conscious of its responsibility, and declaration that is sought at the time of admission is only as per law, he said, adding that "we have also sought the considered opinion of our legal advisors in order to respond to the legitimately issued show cause notice by the Block Education Officer."
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
