PATNA: The Bihar government has allowed a relaxation in office timings to Muslim employees during the month of Ramzan, inviting a sharp reaction from the Opposition parties. BJP accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of trying to turn Bihar into an ‘Islamic State’.
As per the government order, Muslim staff and officers can reach the office an hour earlier and also leave an hour earlier during the month of Ramzan. Reacting sharply to the move, state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said that it was not proper on the part of the state government to give relaxation in office timings to any particular community.
“When the state government can give relaxation during Ramzan, why not during Ramnavami?” he asked. He said the Ramnavami festival would start in the next few days and Hindus have to make preparations for it both in the morning and in the evening hours.
Jaiswal asked whether it was for the first time that such relaxation is been given to Muslim government employees by the state government.“It is clear that the Bihar government is virtually following the path of the radical Islamic organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI). A separate rule for Muslims only shows how some offices are working like agents of PFI,” he added.
“For any government, an employee is just an employee, he is not Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Both Nitish and Tejashwi are implementing the agenda of PFI only,” he remarked. Hitting back at the BJP for demanding concessions for Ramnavami, the president of the Bihar unit of the Congress said that the state government might have taken such a decision on the basis of a representation by some people.
He said that the work at the government would also not be affected due to the change in the office timings.“Where is the problem, the BJP is unnecessarily creating a hullabaloo over it,” he said.
Ramnavami is being celebrated on March 30 this year. Ramzan is scheduled to begin on March 22 and end on April 21 with the celebration of Eid-al-Fitr.