Stressing peace:Minister for Law Durai Murugan addressing an international conference on “Education for peace, religious harmony and cultural diversity” at Mother Teresa Women's University in Kodaikanal on Monday.

KODAIKANAL: Women must be educated to mould religious-harmony conscious citizens and develop a casteless society, an essential one to maintain peace and harmony in the country, said Durai Murugan, Minister for Law.

He was inaugurating an international conference on education for peace, religious harmony and cultural diversity here on Monday.

Women were more responsible than men because they alone could produce responsible citizens. They could mould children's fresh mind and guide their mental and physical action. They could bring about a desirable change in the mindset of the young generation, he stated. “Securing marks is not education. It should kindle good thoughts, develop culture and inculcate ways and means to nurture humaneness in the mind.”

Talking about clashes over religion at world-level, Mr. Durai Murugan said that differences of opinion in following a religion or its principles were prevalent all over the world. Clashes among people over religion, caste, community and clan were taking place due to attempts of one group to conquer the other.

India has Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. No country in the world had so many religions and thousands of castes and sub castes in one place. But teachings of Vallalar and Ramalinga Adigalar and Periyar had cultured the mind-set and helped maintain secularism.

Revenue Minister I. Periasamy said that education, particularly for women, was necessary to establish a peaceful society. Education alone would transform people into responsible citizens. Moreover, religion should be used as a tool to refine the mind and regulate life and not to hurt other religions.

Development of infrastructure in higher educational institutions in rural areas was imperative to impart education to more people. The State government had spent crores of rupees for developing infrastructure like additional classrooms, playgrounds, indoor auditorium and toilet facilities, he added.