No Christmas holiday for UP schools, students to observe Vajpayee birth centenary instead: Report

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh has announced that schools in the state will not be closed for Christmas on Thursday, but will remain open to commemorate the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Maktoob Media reported on Wednesday.

An order issued by the state Basic Education Department stated that attendance for students would be mandatory on Thursday. It also directed schools to organise speeches, cultural programmes and remembrance activities to honour Vajpayee.

The order applies to government primary and upper primary schools in the state and coincides with the conclusion of the official birth centenary year celebrations of the BJP leader.

The decision reportedly came amid demands made by the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal in Saharanpur district to celebrate December 25 as “Bal Gaurav [child pride] and Good Governance Day” instead of Christmas, Maktoob Media reported.

Good Governance Day, started in 2014 by the then newly elected Union government led by Narendra Modi, is observed on December 25 every year to commemorate Vajpayee’s birth anniversary.

In a memorandum, the Hindutva group called for action against schools that observed Christmas and urged the state Basic Education Department to issue directives preventing celebrations for the festival, according to Maktoob Media.

It claimed that students should be taught about “Indian values” and that schools must organise...

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