The Yogi Adityanath government has ordered madrassas in Uttar Pradesh to reduce the number of holidays on Muslim festivals while making it compulsory for them to remain closed on festivals of other faiths, The Times of India reported  Wednesday.

Earlier, madrassas in the state were closed only during Muslim festivals, Ambedkar Jayanti and Holi. However, after Adityanath became the chief minister in March 2017, the state government directed the institutions to remain shut on Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, Raksha Bandhan, Mahanavami, Diwali, Dussehra and Christmas too.

The new calendar has also cut down 10 discretionary holidays allowed to madrassas during occasions like Muharram to four.

But the president of the Islamic Madarsa Modernisation Teachers’ Association, Eijaz Ahmed, was unhappy with the government’s decision. “Madrassas are religious institutions that do require different kinds of leave around a number of minority events,” he said. “There is no problem in addition of holidays of other faiths, but it is totally wrong to cut down the 10 special leaves.”