PUBLIC VIEWS

Yogi Adityanath scraps 15 holidays in UP, some Muslims unhappy Prophet’s birthday features on list

ttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrives for a cabinet meeting at Lokbhavan in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh government has cancelled 15 public holidays marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities. Among the cancelled holidays are Milad un-Nabi, Chhat and Valmiki Jayanti.

However, the move to cancel the holiday on Milad un-Nabi (Prophet Mohammad’s birthday) is likely to raise eyebrows. More so, since it is a holiday in most other states, including almost all BJP-ruled states, as is Ram Navmi and Janamashtami.

UP Muslim clerics took a dim view of the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to cancel holidays on Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi as well as on the occasion of ‘Alvida’ – the last Friday of the month of Ramzan before Eid.
SCRAPPED HOLIDAYS IN UTTAR PRADESH

HOLIDAY	Date
Karpoori Thakur’s birth anniversary	Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Cheti Chand	Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Maharshi Kashyap and Maharaj Guha birth anniversary	Wednesday, April 05, 2017
Hazrat Khwaja Muiuddin Chishti Ajmeri Garib Nawaj Urs	Friday, April 14, 2017
Chandrashekhar’s birth anniversary	Monday, April 17, 2017
Parshuram Jayanti	Friday, April 28, 2017
Maharana Pratap Jayanti	Tuesday, May 09, 2017
Jamat-ul-Alvida (Last Friday of Ramzan)	Friday, June 23, 2017
Vishva Karma Puja	Sunday, September 17, 2017
Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti	Thursday, September 21, 2017
Maharshi Valmiki Jayanti	Thursday, October 05, 2017
Chhath Puja	Thursday, October 26, 2017
Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel and Acharya Narendra Dev Jayanti	Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Eid-e-Miladul Nabi	Saturday, December 02, 2017
Chaudhary Charan Singh Jayanti	Saturday, December 23, 2017

Sunni cleric Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahal said, “It’s unfortunate that the UP government has cancelled these holidays on days that are of special significance to the community. While on the day of Alvida, the faithful offer prayers in large numbers the Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi holiday was in fact there since the days of the VP Singh government at the centre.”

“Several functions are held on the occasion and even non-Muslims participate in the functions in large numbers. Moreover the decision to do away with holidays on these two important days may not reflect well on the government not just among the Muslims in India but across the globe.”

Kalbe Hussain, son of prominent Shia cleric and vice president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said, “Since the government has also cancelled holidays pertaining to other religions too, it doesn’t across as a wholly unfair decision. At the same time it would be nicer if the government considered a rollback, especially on the day of Alvida simply because it’s a day when the community prays and fasts. So it would send a nice signal if the government considers this point too.”

Maulana Salman Nadawi, a Muslim scholar from prominent Lucknow-based Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama , said, “I guess these two holidays have been kept in the list of restricted holidays. Moreover the holidays associated with other religions too have been cancelled. So I don’t think it would be right to say that the government has deliberately discriminated against any particular community.”