UP schools to stay open on Christmas Day for Vajpayee centenary programmes, move draws criticism
New Delhi: Government primary and upper primary schools across Uttar Pradesh will remain open on December 25 this year, with students required to attend special programmes marking the birth centenary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, replacing the customary Christmas holiday.
An order issued by the state’s Basic Education Department has made attendance compulsory for students on the day and directed schools to organise speeches, cultural events and remembrance activities celebrating Vajpayee’s life and public service. The directive applies to government-run schools across the state and coincides with the closing phase of official centenary year observances for the BJP co-founder.
The decision follows demands raised by Bajrang Dal leaders in Saharanpur, who had submitted a memorandum urging the government to ensure that December 25 is observed as “Good Governance Day” and “Bal Gaurav Day” rather than Christmas. Maktoob Media reported that the delegation argued that the date should not be used to mark the birth of Jesus Christ and called for schools to focus on activities such as poetry recitations, speeches and essay competitions centred on Vajpayee and educationist Madan Mohan Malaviya.
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The move has triggered strong reactions from Christian organisations, educators and civil society groups, who see it as a marginalisation of the Christian community. They also described it as a departure from the secular ethos of public education. A spokesperson for a prominent Christian group described the order as insensitive to the religious sentiments of Christians, for whom Christmas marks the birth of Jesus and holds deep spiritual significance.
Dr John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council and a member of the National Integration Council, criticised the state government for keeping schools open on Christmas to observe Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. He said replacing a longstanding religious holiday with official commemorations amounted to a deliberate sidelining of Christian faith practices and reflected a broader pattern of exclusion. Dayal warned that such measures contribute to fear and insecurity among Christians, particularly in states witnessing repeated incidents of hostility and violence.
The All India Christian Council and other organizations, in a letter to the Union Home Minister presented data from the United Christian Forum, which showed 834 occurrences of violence or hatred against Christians in 2024 and 706 cases through November 2025. Citing reports of fake conversions, burial rejections, mob violence, and police inactivity, the letter singled out Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as the worst-affected states,
Arguing that schools should uphold constitutional values of equality and coexistence and that national commemorations should not come at the cost of religious inclusion, Dr Nihal Nazim, a government school teacher in Moradabad, said cancelling Christmas sent a message to Christian students that their faith and identity were secondary in public institutions.
Former students echoed similar sentiments. Ansab, an alumnus of a Christian school in Aligarh, said Christmas had long been a shared cultural moment that transcended religious boundaries. Removing it from the school calendar, he said, reinforced a sense of exclusion and aligned with a wider climate of hostility towards minorities.
December 25 has been observed as Good Governance Day since 2014, when the central government declared Vajpayee’s birth anniversary a working day for government offices, effectively removing the Christmas holiday for central government employees. The move had drawn objections from Christian groups at the time as well.
While several other states like Delhi, Punjab and Kerala, continue to recognise Christmas as a school holiday, Uttar Pradesh has extended the observance to schools. Kerala’s education minister has recently cautioned against turning educational institutions into sites of communal contestation, reaffirming the need for inclusive recognition of festivals.
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Virat Kohli returns to Vijay Hazare Trophy: King’s tryst with silence and chaos
Bengaluru (PTI): Virat Kohli’s 58th List A hundred resembled a grand opera played inside an empty Royal Albert Hall.
Kohli’s 83-ball knock for Delhi against Andhra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was magnificent as usual in its execution, but there were no screaming spectators to garnish the occasion here at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
The Karnataka government’s reticence to grant permission to host matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium citing security reasons forced the KSCA to shift matches to CoE, and the venue was out of bounds for fans.
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So, instead of a roaring house, a tranche of snail-paced cargo trucks, a large posse of police personnel and few fans gawking over the barbed concrete walls provided an austere setting for Kohli’s return to Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years.
Kohli himself might have found it a tad bizarre. For a better part of the last decade and half, the 37-year-old has always walked onto a cricket field to an uproarious welcome.
Even his return to Ranji Trophy earlier this year after a hiatus of 12 years at Ferozeshah Kotla had drawn huge crowds.
But on a sunny Wednesday, Kohli made a rather unfamiliar, lonely walk to the middle — no cheers, no chants of "Kohli... Kohli!" and not even that ubiquitous RCB cries that reverberate around stadiums irrespective of the formats he plays.
The thick veil of silence was breached only when the fielding side players chatted among themselves or when occasional applause emanated from the respective dressing rooms.
But the entire sight had its own charm. A champion cricketer who has always been flanked on either side by fame and fans, was now doing it all alone.
There were short chats and high-fives with teammates, a diving stop to deny Ricky Bhui another boundary, and a quick word of advice to Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini when Andhra batters carted him around.
Kohli even jived to some imaginary tune. Perhaps, an effort to recreate an air of exuberance and theatre around him, something he loves to do so dearly on a cricket field.
He was trying to flame the dramatist inside him, which often drove him to some dizzying peaks.
Kohli the master batter
But that situational solitude did not affect his batting. Barring a couple of drops, Kohli slipped into his familiar ‘Chase Master’ garb with ease.
His money shots were on full view on Wednesday — pulls, charge to spinners, flicks, cuts and those beautiful perpendicular bat straight drives.
Fifty came in 39 balls and 100 in 83 balls, but none of those moments were celebrated with usual gusto. But a simple wave to the dressing room marked the occasion.
In fact, silence shrouded those moments so deep that a blink could have made one miss them.
But there was another side to it. Perhaps, Kohli too might have enjoyed that slice of loneliness which he often craves for.
That search for privacy has made him set an alternate base in London apart from his uber posh Mumbai dwelling. Here, he had all the desired isolation.
But the day ended in familiar chaos. Andhra cricketers and officials mobbed him for photographs and autographs, and he obliged with a smile.
“It was a dream to play in the same match as Kohli. I always wanted to play with or in the opposition (of Kohli), and the all the Andhra cricketers were elated at the opportunity,” said fellow centurion Ricky Bhui after the match.
As boxing legend Frank Bruno once said: ‘Boy! That’s cricket.”
