Ideological differences between BJP and JDU getting wider in Bihar

new delhi: With a section of BJP leaders raising objections to Urdu medium schools in minority-dominated districts remaining closed on Fridays and holding classes on Sunday, it seems the

ideological differences within the NDA in Bihar are getting wider.

Several local level BJP leaders, who came to know about the arrangement, openly questioned the state government, which is led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, for "mixing of religion with education."

However, officials of the education department are tight-lipped over the issue. Meanwhile, sources in the Education Department have attributed the controversy to a notice purportedly issued to the governments of Bihar and Jharkhand recently by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which is a central government body that works under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

"The NCPCR has sought to know whether there has been any government communication commissioning such an arrangement.

Urdu medium schools, especially those in districts with heavy concentration of Muslims, have been remaining shut on Fridays for many years", they said.

The notice to the state government by NCPCR has irked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), which had incidentally kept the education portfolio with itself ever since it came to power, in alliance with the BJP, more than 15 years ago.

"We politicians must not kick up a storm over every trifle. People should keep in mind that even in Sanskrit Mahavidyalayas, there is a holiday on Pratipada and Ashtami dates of every month as per the Hindu calendar", said JD(U) Parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha.

Coming out in support of Nitish government, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha's spokesperson Danish Rizwan said, "Why are people having a belly ache over schools remaining shut on Fridays? Have the guardians of the students complained?