Hindu School Is First To Make Vegetarianism A Condition Of Entry

A dispute has arisen after the UK’s inaugural Hindu state school publicized a strict admission policy that some say favors those who follow the Hare Krishna movement over mainstream Hinduism. The Krishna-Avanti school in northwest London will prioritize applications from vegetarian families who also abstain from alcohol in an effort to prove they are in line with the school’s religious beliefs. This policy decision has not gone over well with some members of the Hindu community who argue that it is biased toward the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which is backing the school. Members of this movement follow stringent vegetarian diets. The state-funded school set to open in Harrow, where 40,000 of the 1.5 million practising Hindus in the UK reside, will provide spaces for 240 students, and competition for admission is anticipated to be tough. The admissions policy commits to accommodating students who are in care, have physical or other disabilities and those from "Hindu families." Ten positions at the new institution are reserved specifically for children of families at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the temple base of ISKCON in Letchmore Heath. Jay Lakhani, a director of education at the Hindu Council UK, claimed the admission policy was biased, insisting that the Krishna-Avanti school "should be a truly Hindu school that caters to the kaleidoscopic Hindu variety of wider Harrow’s Hindu community" since it was granted state funding as a "Hindu" school rather than an "ISKCON" institution. Nitesh Gor, director of the Hindu charity that supports the school, defended the policy, stressing that the school merely expects "active" participation in the faith, such as "regular home and temple worship, as well as vegetarianism and avoiding alcohol." He further noted that these criteria reflect practices common to mainstream Hinduism in the UK, including ISKCON, Swaminarayan temples, and Jainism.