PATNA: Just two days before Union home minister Amit Shah's visit to Patna, JD(U) and its ally BJP again engaged in the war of words, this time on the issue of observing weekly holiday in the state government schools on Friday, instead of Sunday, in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region of Bihar.
Over 500 government schools in Seemanchal region have been reportedly observing Friday as weekly holiday instead of Sunday for the decades, without any directive from the state government in this regard.
BJP's Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha said the holidays in government institutions are not decided on religion. "If this is happening, it is an extremely communal decision and must be recalled," he said. He said India is a secular nation and run on the basis of decisions taken at the administrative level. "If some people are trying to flow the Ganga in the reverse direction, it is not possible in this country," he said.
But, JD(U) parliamentary board chairman and former minister Upendra Kushwaha on Thursday defended the practice in Urdu schools through a tweet and said even Sanskrit colleges in the state observe holidays on each 'Pratipada' and 'Ashthami' (the first and the eighth day of every fortnight as per Hindi calendar). "Anyone not aware about it can peruse the calendar released by the KSD Sanskrit University, Darbhanga," Kushwaha said and asked: "Is it a really necessary issue or an attempt is being made to create an unnecessary dispute?"
Replying to Kushwaha, BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh said, "Be it an Urdu school or Sanskrit school, both must run as per the Bihar government's rules. Holidays in schools should not be decided on the basis of religion. This country should have one flag, one rule and one constitution."
Singh also said holidays in government schools are decided by the state government while those in the Sanskrit colleges by the respective university.
The Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S), another NDA ally in BIhar, supported JD(U).
