'Jharkhand district changed Sunday holidays to Fridays': PM Modi says Opposition 'now fighting Christians'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a jibe at the Jharkhand government after an investigation found that some schools in Jamtara had switched their official holiday to Friday instead of universally accepted Sunday. PM Modi said Sundays are linked to Christians and one district in Jharkhand had changed it, adding that the Opposition is now “fighting Christians too".

Addressing an election rally in Dumka of Jharkhand, PM Narendra Modi said, “In our country, there is a holiday on Sunday. When the British used to rule here, the Christian community used to celebrate the holiday…Sunday is not linked to Hindus but to the Christian community. It has been a holiday since 200-300 years. Now, they have put a lock on Sunday holiday in one district and said that the holiday will be on Friday. First, they fought with Hindus, now they are fighting with Christians. What is going on?"

Reversing the decision made two years earlier by 43 state-run schools to change their weekly holiday to Friday, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government, in 2022, reinstated Sunday as official day of holiday. Later an investigation found that some schools in the minority-dominated areas of Jamtara had changed their official holiday to Fridays.