Sri Sri Ravi Shankar defends his remark on government schools

Haridwar, Mar 24 (ANI): Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Saturday clarified his recent statement on some government schools being used as training grounds for insurgency, saying he never meant that all children from government schools were becoming Naxalites.

"Children who have joined the Naxal movement, most of them have come out of the government schools. This same statement has also been said by Mr. Jairam Ramesh (Union Rural Development Minister) on January 22, that the Maoists have recruited these children from tribal and government schools. But I never said that all students coming out of government school are becoming naxalites, there have been some really talented students who have come out of these schools as well," said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Elaborating further, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that lack of spiritual and moral education in government schools has made the students of these schools more vulnerable to join the Maoists.

"The truth is that I never said that all such students are of violent tendency, but those children who have shown such tendency have not come out of mission schools where moral and spiritual education is imparted without generalizing it," he added.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had earlier claimed that state-run schools are turning into a breeding ground for Maoists.

"I feel that all state-run schools and colleges should be privatised and that the government should not run any school. Often it is seen that students from government schools end up as Maoists or militants," he said, while speaking at an event in Jaipur on Tuesday.

The spiritual guru further said that the threat of spreading extreme ideologies stemmed from a lack of quality education.

"All regions, which are inflicted with Maoists and militancy do not have good schools. If students are able to get education instilled with Indian values, they will never deviate onto the path of violence and corruption," he said.he spiritual guru's remarks triggered nationwide protests led by government schoolteachers. (ANI)