should a 15-year-old Indian student be permitted to look at anatomical drawings that illustrate how an adolescent's body develops into an adult form?
This simple question stands at the heart of an uneasy debate over Indian values, contemporary morality and the best way to educate modern teenagers in the facts of life.
As Indian society races through extraordinarily rapid social change, a dispute over the content of a sex education textbook throws a spotlight on the ever-shifting boundaries between cultural acceptability and sexual taboos.
It shows how conservative forces in India are battling fiercely to resist the swift pace of change, as a new generation of adolescents, particularly in the cities, are brought up on an untested diet of Western soap operas, cable television and increasingly globalized values.
In recent weeks, six of India's 28 states have suspended a new "adolescence education" program designed for 15- to 17-year-olds in all state-run schools and devised jointly by the National Education Ministry and the government body responsible for combating the spread of AIDS.
Outrage, mainly among rightist parties, which often promote themselves as defenders of an ill-defined notion of "Indian morality," was prompted primarily by a flip-chart of illustrations for use by teachers as they summarized the physical changes experienced by teenagers during puberty.
Information in the curriculum on contraception and sexually-transmitted diseases also provoked anger.
One by one, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan - some of the largest Indian states - declared that the content of the course was unacceptable for Indian children and announced a suspension of the program.
The government of Kerala has stopped teaching the course temporarily while a review board modifies the textbooks, excising the unacceptable elements.
The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, wrote in a letter of protest to the Central Education Ministry that the "government has devaluated Indian culture and its values."
"Instead, the younger generation should be taught about yoga, Indian culture and its values," he concluded.
The education minister in Rajasthan, Ghansyam Tiwari, justified his decision by describing the course material as "disgraceful and capable of corrupting the minds of the young."
Announcing a decision to suspend the course in Karnataka, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said at a news conference: "Sex education may be necessary in Western countries, but not in India, which has rich culture. It will have adverse effect on young minds, if implemented."
This response has elicited seething frustration in the National AIDS Control Organization, where officials are struggling to combat an AIDS epidemic. Last year, India became the country with the highest number of HIV-positive people, with an estimated 5.7 million cases.
The director of the AIDS organization, Sujatha Rao, said she regretted the way the subject had become a political flash point.
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