The Ahmedabad School Board has come under the scanner for passing a circular, as per which all the schools of the state have been asked to perform compulsory 'Saraswati Vandana' on the occasion of Vasant Panchami on Saturday.
This has been looked at as a step to promote the Bharatiya Janata Party's agenda of Hindutva. The Congress has sternly reacted to this decision and said that this was the Saffron party's move to violate the fundamental rights of the minorities.
Reacting to the circular, Congress councilor from Sarkhej ward Haji Mirza Baig said that in a democracy every individual is free to follow their religion and perform their own rituals and that this circular is an attack on the fundamental rights of not just the Muslims but also other religions, reported PTI.
Baig also added that the Congress councilors would agitate against the autocratic circular and take legal action if the order isn't taken back.
The board has around 450 primary schools under it, including 64 Urdu medium schools in areas dominated by the Muslim community.
In the midst of the raising controversies relating to the circular, the board's chairman Jagdish Bhavsar said that the sole aim of the circular was to promote the search for knowledge among children and make them aware of the importance of education and not hurt the religious sentiments of any community.
AMC School Board's administrator L D Desai said that it the decision of passing the circular had an educative motive and not a religious motive. He also added that no Urdu medium school has approached the board against the programme.
