Even school holidays have not escaped unscathed from the BJP’s brand of Hindu-Muslim politics.

The Bihar government’s decision to slash the number of school holidays from 23 to 11 in the remaining months of the calendar year in an apparent bid to increase workdays has been given a communal colour by the BJP.

The holidays that have been done away with are Krishna Janmashtami (September 7), Teej (September 18-19), Jivitputrika Vrata or Jitiya (October 6), three days from the six-day holiday for Durga Puja, five days between the Diwali and Chhath festivals, and Guru Nanak Jayanti.

The BJP was quick to point out that all the holidays that had been cancelled were related to Hindus while none pertaining to Muslims had been touched.

“The Bihar government has cancelled the holidays for Hindu festivals. It may happen tomorrow that the Sharia law is imposed and celebrating Hindu festivals is banned,” Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh posted on X.

Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary termed the state government’s decision “politics of appeasement”.

“The government of uncle (chief minister Nitish Kumar) and nephew (deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav) never refrains from hurting the feelings of Hindus. Can the Hindus in Bihar not even celebrate their religious festivals? The holidays for the biggest festival — Chhath Puja — have been reduced, apart from Diwali and Durga Puja. This is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable. The public will give a befitting reply to these leaders for this politics of appeasement,” Choudhary said.

Bihar has over 85,000 primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary government schools in which around 4 lakh teachers are employed and 2.5 crore students study.

A letter sent by state secondary education director Kanhaiya Prasad Shrivastav to all district magistrates, officials of his department and primary and middle schools on August 29 includes the truncated list of holidays from September to December.

The letter pointed out that the Right to Education Act of 2009 stipulates at least 200 workdays for primary schools (Classes I to V) and at least 220 workdays for middle schools (Classes VI to VIII).

“Elections, examinations, law and order, festivals, ritual-related programmes, floods, natural disasters, and situations arising out of examinations or recruitment examinations held by various kinds of commissions affect teaching in the schools. Also, there is no uniformity in the closure of schools for festivals or rituals. Schools in some districts function during a festival while those in other districts remain closed,” the education department letter said.

Sources said the decision to cut school holidays was taken at the behest of education department additional chief secretary K.K. Pathak, who has been making efforts to streamline the chaotic educational system in the state.

Asked whether the slashing of school holidays will continue in the coming years as well, Pathak told The Telegraph: “The decision for each year will depend on the situation prevailing at that point of time.”

Bihar building construction minister Ashok Choudhary pointed out that “the Centre itself has been sending missives to cut down holidays in schools to implement the minimum work days of 200 to 220 days”.

“These people (Giriraj Singh and other BJP leaders) have destroyed the ethos of the country by indulging in majoritarian politics. Their work is to create animosity between people. They don’t know that Hinduism is not just wearing various religious symbols, it is being human,” Choudhary added.

Many teachers condemned the decision to reduce the holidays for festivals and threatened an agitation. “We will oppose the whimsical decision to cancel the holidays for important festivals by burning copies of the secondary education director’s letter at all government schools on August 31. It will be the bugle call for an agitation against the unilateral decision by the government,” Bihar primary teachers’ association state president Pradeep Kumar Pappu said.