Fact Check: Did the Netherlands make Bhagavad Gita mandatory for primary students?
A post has been going viral on social media claiming that according to a new law in the Netherlands, Bhagavad Gita...
By Tejal Sinha Published on 29 Jun 2021 3:02 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A post has been going viral on social media claiming that according to a new law in the Netherlands, Bhagavad Gita classes have been made compulsory for Dutch students from grade 5.
(Click here for Archive)
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter performed a Google reverse image search and found a tweet from 25 May 2014. The tweet included the photo of the two girls, one of whom is holding the Bhagavad Gita, that is being shared along with the viral claim.
We then found a Facebook post that had posted the same image on 3 July 2016.
The photo was also shared on Twitter on 2 July 2016.
(Click here for the twitter link and here for Archive link)
We then found the website of Iskcon Desire Tree that had published the photo on 20 September 2013. The image description read, "Hare Krishna!!!! Beautiful little Vaisnava!!!! krishna bless all of this child!!! We are our child teach what???? see Iskcon Parents teach there child!!!! look !!! chaitanya mahaprabhu's followers are growing all over the world.. great krishna devotee!!! Jay Shrila Prabhupada!!!!"
The website had posted a series of other photos apart from the viral image of the two girls.
We also searched using the keywords "Compulsory subjects for Class 5 students in Netherlands" which led us to the official website of the government of the Netherlands. It had a list of subjects for primary school students. However, there was no mention of Bhagavad Gita as a subject to be taught in primary school.
It is therefore evident that Bhagavad Gita has not been made compulsory for primary school students in the Netherlands. The image of the two little girls holding the Bhagavad Gita has been doing the rounds since 2014. Hence, the claim is false.
