Why can't schools be closed for Hanuman Chalisa on Tuesdays if they can be closed for Friday prayers (Namaz) : Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Ranchi (Jharkhand) – Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma raised a question at a public rally in Jharkhand, that why couldn’t schools be closed for reciting Hanuman Chalisa on Tuesdays if they can be kept closed for Friday prayers (Namaz). This statement came amidst the ongoing two-phase assembly elections in Jharkhand.

CM Sarma further stated, “We are not Hindu extremists. When the Constitution was being framed, everyone in the Constituent Assembly was a Hindu. We could have said that the country should have holidays on Tuesdays, but we didn’t. We generously agreed to have schools closed on Sundays. Today, however, in Jharkhand, schools are being closed on Fridays. If schools can remain closed on Fridays, we too have the courage to keep schools closed on Tuesdays.”

This controversy gained momentum last year when reports emerged from 33 schools in Dumka district, Jharkhand, and later in Jamtara, about observing weekly holidays on Fridays. Similarly, in Kishanganj, Bihar, the number of such schools was said to be 37. Traditionally, schools in certain districts of Jharkhand and Bihar had been functioning on Sundays and observing holidays on Fridays. Due to, however, the increasing attention this issue has been drawing, Bihar’s Education Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary ordered an inquiry and sought a report from the concerned district education officers.