Friday no holiday in Madrassas: Sarma

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 28: The Assam government has decided to do away with the practice of following weekly holiday on Friday in some of government-run high Madrassas in the State.

State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the Education Department is going to issue instruction to those madrassas to function like other schools on Friday.

According to Sarma, it came to his notice only recently that some Madrassas observe weekly holiday on Friday.

“It was during a meeting with education officers recently, I found this strange thing that the government-run high madrassas in three districts – Lakhimpur, ogaon and Morigaon – observe holiday on Friday,” the minister said, and added: “We know that the official weekly holiday in Pakistan and Bangladesh is on Friday, while in India, the United States and Europe, Sunday is the weekly holiday. There can’t be two rules for holiday.”

The minister further said: “I know that the government allows one or one-hour-and-a-half break to people, who believe in Islam, to offer maz on Friday. But there is no holiday on Friday as such. Even when the Assembly is in session, we follow this practice.”

The Education Department is going to instruct that the practice will be discontinued and there will holiday on Sunday, and not Friday. The erring headmasters of those madrassas will be suspended, it warned.