A section of teachers at the Delhi University on Tuesday criticised the administration’s decision to observe June 29 as a working day despite the festival of Eid-ul-Adha, saying that the move was sectarian and insensitive, PTI reported.
In a notification, the Delhi University said that day has been marked as working in view of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 30.
“The Valedictory Function of Centenary Celebrations is scheduled on Friday, 30 June 2023,” the university’s administration said. “With a view to completing all arrangements prior to the function, the University will be observed Thursday, 29 June 2023 as a working day for all the employees of the University.”
It added that employees who wish to celebrate Eid on June 29 are exempted from attending the office.
The Democratic Teachers Front alleged that the move was a deliberate attempt to isolate Muslims and demanded that the notification be withdrawn, according to PTI.
It said that the university could have identified volunteers to finish pending tasks for the valedictory function.
“The list of Gazetted Holidays has been known to the University much before the year 2023,” the section said. “No emergent situation or calamity has struck. It is unlikely that the university administration would have taken a similar step in case the concerned day had been Holi or Diwali. That would have figured in its mind while drawing any schedule.”
Vikas Gupta, the Delhi’s University Registrar, however, clarified that the order is applicable only to the university and not the colleges affiliated with it.
“Gazetted holidays do not mean that you will not function,” Gupta told ANI. “If you go with that understanding then everybody will stay at home on gazetted holidays...I don’t think that we have done anything wrong.”
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