‘Islamic Republic of Bihar’: BJP Criticises Bihar’s School Holiday Calendar, Cites Alleged Bias Towards Muslim Festivals

BJP leaders accused the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government of reducing holidays for Hindu festivals and increasing holidays for Muslim festivals.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched another offensive against the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government for allegedly axing the number of holidays for the state’s schools during Hindu festivals and increasing it for Muslim festivals. Calling Nitish Kumar the “chief of appeasement”, Union minister Ashwini Choubey claimed that the “anti-Hindu face” of the grand alliance has come to the fore again, alleging that the Bihar government “hates Sanatan for vote bank.”

“Once again the anti-Hindu face of the uncle-nephew government came to the fore. On one hand, holidays for Muslim festivals are being extended in schools, while holidays for Hindu festivals are being abolished,” Choubey said in a social media post on X.

“Shame on the government that hates Sanatan for vote bank.”

The Bihar education department on Monday issued the holiday calendar for 2024 and said the chart has been created to ensure at least 220 teaching days under the Right to Education. According to HT’s sister publication Live Hindustan, the holiday calendar for the year 2024 has seen wholesale change, with the number of summer vacation days increased from 20 to 30.

While the holidays for Hartalika Teej and Jitiya have been done away with, the education department has increased the holidays for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (Bakrid) to three days each, LH reported.

Firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh took a swipe at Nitish Kumar-led government, calling the state “Islamic Republic of Bihar”.

“Nitish and Lalu government increased holidays for Muslim festivals in schools, ended holidays for Hindu festivals,” he wrote on X in Hindi.

A similar controversy erupted earlier this year when the government, in an order dated August 29, curtailed the number of holidays for the state’s schools from 22 to 8 over the next five months. The order was, however, withdrawn after massive opposition.

In a notificatio, the director (secondary education) said: “The August 29 order comprising holiday list in government primary, middle and secondary schools is cancelled with immediate effect.”