'Anti-Hindu face': BJP attacks Nitish government for scrapping school holidays

‘Anti-Hindu face’: BJP attacks Nitish government for scrapping school holidays

A controversy has erupted in Bihar after the Nitish Kumar-led government released a new school calendar for 2024 that had the number of holidays reduced during some Hindu festivals. Former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi accused the state government of hurting the sentiments of the Hindus.

According to the calendar released by the state education department, there will be no holidays on festivals like Shivratri, Janmashtami, Raksha Bandhan, Teej and Jitiya in 2024. On the other hand, a three-day holiday has been given for Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha (Bakrid).

In this year’s school calendar, there was a holiday for Teej for two days and one day for Jitiya. But the holidays for the festival have now been done away with, leading to a war of words between the Bihar government and the BJP.

Reacting to the issue, Sushil Modi told news agency ANI, “Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has shown an anti-Hindu face and taken a decision to hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. The holidays for Hindu festivals have been selectively slashed while holidays for Muslim festivals have been increased.”