After issuing a ban on meat for Jain festival, Rahasthan’s BJP government has now ordered all government and private colleges to remain open on the day Muslims will be celebrating their festival Bakr-Eid throughout the state.
In an order issued by Rajasthan’s education department, now holiday for Bakr-Eid effectively stands cancelled.
Instead, the day will be marked to celebrate the birth anniversary of Deen Dyal Upaddhyay- A BJP and RSS icon- through blood donations in schools.
As expected, Muslim groups have reacted angrily and decided to move the court challenging the order.
“This is an unconstitutional and a very fascist order,” Professor Salim Engineer of the Forum for Democracy and Communal Harmony was quoted by NDTV adding that the government’s move was a clear attempt at ‘saffronisation’ – the term used by critics to describe pro-Hindu moves.
The state government said that Muslim teachers could go on leave if they so wished but Muslim groups said there was no mention of this provision in the official order.
The state Higher Education Minister Kalicharan Saraf said there there was nothing wrong in the order.
He said, “How is it saffronisation? What does Deen Dayal have to do with saffronisation? Is his contribution to the country not to be counted at all?”
Rajasthan’s education ministry had made surya namaskar, a yoga asana, compulsory in all government schools. A decision that was widely condemned.