By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
In yet another controversial move, Yogi Adityanath-led UP government has cut off a considerable number of holidays of madrasas in UP, including that of Eid and Muharram, and instead added several Hindu festivals to the list of holidays for madrasas.
The list of holidays, released on January 2, Tuesday, now has festivals such as Diwali, Dussehra, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti for Madrasas to have holidays. Prior to the recent order, the Madrasas used to have holidays on Holi and Ambedkar Jayanti only apart from the national holidays.
The recent order adds a total of seven new holidays for the Madrasas of the state.
But the government in the state has cut holidays provided for the Islamic festivals such as Eid and Muharram. The current order has reduced the total number of special holidays to four from a total of ten being given on these two festivals.
In addition to the holidays, the UP government in the state has also streamlined class timings in every Madrasa of the state. After the decision, more than 16,000 Madrasa of the state will have to run the classes at the same time.
The UP government cited ‘equality’ behind the decision, adding that the decision will end discrimination in the institutes of the state.
Rahul Gupta, the registrar at UP Madrasa Board, told media, “The new holidays are added to the list so that students get to learn more about the other individuals.”
“The government has taken the decision on the basis of holidays being given to other schools of the state,” added Gupta.
Ezaz Ahmed, the president at Islamic Madrasa Modernisation Teachers Association, said the addition of Hindu festivals and birth anniversary of prominent figures to list was not an issue at all, but added, “Cutting down on the number of holidays during Eid and Muharram is all wrong.”
Yogi Government is infamous for having imposed several rules over madrasas. Recently, it mandated the singing of National Anthem in the madrasas and also ordered madrasas to produce and submit the video recording of Independence Day celebrations. The community took the decisions as something which cast a doubt over the love of Madrasa community towards the nation.