The Bengal Government will not accept the University Grants Commission directives to celebrate Makar Sankranti in educational institutions as a part of “Ek Bharat”, State Education Minister Bratya Basu on Friday said.
Wondering whether the Constitution of India permitted issuance of such directives making celebration of such festivals in government institutions a mandatory affair Basu said “I do not know whether such directives can be issued to States and educational institutions to celebrate religious programmes like Makar Sankranti, Haj, Christmas or for that matter other religious festivals.”
A communiqué from the UGC earlier directed the governments and higher education institutions to celebrate Makar Sankranti in order to promote the spirit of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat envisaged by the government to bridge cultural gap between the students.
“The higher educational institutions are requested to celebrate Makar Sankranti with their paired state/institution with great zeal and enthusiasm… Celebration of such festivals among the students will bridge the cultural gap between them, thereby, promoting the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB),” the letter from the UGC secretary said.
“As … EBSB) initiative aims at promoting engagement amongst people of States/ UTs in the country for furthering mutual understanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures,” the educational institutions should celebrate the festival with great fanfare and spread through the social media, the letter added.
Rejecting such ideals the Bengal Education Minister said that the Trinamool Congress government did not have such programmes and that the Makar Sankranti was already being celebrated not only at most households but also at Ganga Sagar Islands.
“I do not know whether the Constitution permits such directives asking the governments to celebrate religious festivals like that … of course they (BJP Government) have a great knowledge of the Constitution which can be understood by the way they are interpreting at regular intervals in their own way … I don’t know whether such kind of interpretation of the Constitution came from Manu Samhita or not,” the Minister said adding the Bengal Government would prefer to ignore the directive for now.
Meanwhile, the Bengal Government on Friday started Ganga Sagar fare at Sagar Islands with much fanfare amid chanting of Vedic hymns and cultural programmes in front of Kapil Muni’s temple at the confluence of the Ganges and Bay of Bengal even as the pilgrims from all over the country started taking holy dip at the Ganga Sagar in thousands.
With no Kumbha Mela taking place this year round about 30 lakh pilgrims from all over the country and the world are likely to visit Ganga Sagar in a matter of a week Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier said.