West Bengal's Bethune College offers 'Humanity' as a religion to choose in its application form, netizens laud its 'forward thinking'

In a time where communal tension is rife in the country with all political parties blaming each other for catering to a particular religion or community, India's premier women's college, the first in Asia to receive NAAC accreditation, West Bengal's Bethune College has taken a positive approach allowing  students to choose 'Humanity' as a religion on their admission form.

While Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and others are options available, the option 'Humanity' is strategically listed above all.

Here's a snapshot of Bethune College's online admission application:

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Talking to a news agency, the college's principal Mamata Ray Chaudhari said that while 'non-believer' was another variant they(College authorities) wanted to include an option everyone believed in i.e Humanity.

"We have noticed that some youngsters don’t want to disclose their religion. There were options like ‘non-believer’ but we thought that humanity is something that all the religions talk about. Humanity is above every religion,” she said.

The Bethune College which was established in 1849 as a girls’ school by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune was transformed into a college in 1879 and falls under the Calcutta University. Admissions for this year's courses began on May 27. Another college in West Bengal, Midnapore College did not have a religion tab in their admission form.

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Lauding this 'humane' approach to religion, Twitterati had expressed their joy at the College's efforts: