On August 1, the Directorate of Primary Education under the Department of School Education and Literacy issued an order to remove the word ‘Urdu’ from the schools that have not been notified as Urdu Schools. The department further ordered to keep the weekly holiday on Sunday and not on Friday, as these schools have started observing.
Jharkhand | Primary Education Dept orders to remove ‘Urdu’ word from such schools which aren’t notified as Urdu schools.
— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2022
The weekly off of such schools must be only on Sunday, not on Friday. Dept also orders that morning prayer in non-Urdu schools to be retained as in past. pic.twitter.com/uETLoPFKvd
The order, signed by Secretary of DOSE&L Rajesh Kumar Sharma, stated that the department received information that some schools have added the word ‘Urdu’ and started observing weekly offs on Friday instead of Sunday. It further noted that those schools also changed the schedule of mid-day meals accordingly and changed the pre-prayer methods.
It read, “Keeping in view the seriousness of the subject matter, the following guidelines are given after due consideration:
- Except for the notified Urdu school, in which the word Urdu has been added, the Urdu word should be removed from the part of that school without delay
- Weekly holidays on Sundays should be ensured except for notified Urdu Schools, and the mid-day meal should be operated on Sundays
- Under no circumstances should any kind of academic activity be conducted on Sundays in non-notified Urdu schools.
It should also be ensured that prayer is conducted in non-notified Urdu schools as per the earlier method.”
Furthermore, the order stated that if any local person, school management or others cause any kind of obstruction in implementing the orders, it will be considered as obstructing government work and disturbing social harmony, which would lead to appropriate legal action.
The probe was ordered following reports of ‘Urdu’ added to school names
On July 20, it was reported that the Jharkhand Education Department had initiated a probe into a school in the Lohardaga district over the matter of change of name from primary school to Urdu high school. The probe was ordered after Jharkhand BJP MP Sudarshan Bhagat demanded an investigation into the case.
The MP had stated that residents and parents had voiced concerns over the word Urdu, particularly in the context of Charhu Urdu High School. “They claim it was a normal school, but how quickly it transformed into an Urdu high school. We informed the department that the problem should be looked into”, he was quoted.
Reports suggest that similar incidents have happened in multiple schools in Jharkhand where names, weekly offs and other routine activities were modified to facilitate the “requirements” of the Muslim students in Muslim-dominating areas.
