The recent   Government order clearing decks for 90-minute namaz break for the Muslim community members during the Ramadan month has predictably prodded groups of other religious communities to demand the same for them. The Hindu religious fraternity demanded that the  Hindus must get a similar break during Navratri and Pitra Paksh.

 Speaking to The Pioneer, spokesperson of Bhartiya Akhara Parishad, Baba Hathayogi said, “Sanatana Dharma has a series of religious festivals round the year. By going for such selective treatment to appease a particular community, the chief minister has wronged other communities. All the religions enjoying equality under the Constitution, they all must be treated with the  same yardstick.”

 Echoing  the same, Swami Achyutanand of Bhumanand Peeth said they were welcoming the move by the state government but  with a rider. “It must consider the sentiments of other communities as well. The Navratri and Pitra Paksh which come twice a year must be treated  in the same way as the  Ramadan month. Those engaged in rituals during these important occasions of the Hindu calendar should be given the same stretch of break to offer prayers in the morning and the evening,” he said.

 Swami Kailashanand of Dakshin Kali Peeth said that the  Hindus must be treated equally with those practising Islam. A religious scholar Shaktidhar Shastri opined that the  politicians should  refrain from playing  vote-bank  politics with  religions. “This is a dangerous trend,”  he added.