A recent order issued by the Uttar Pradesh government has triggered a controversy in the state over education, secularism, and minority rights. The Basic Education Department has directed that there will be no Christmas holiday on December 25, 2025, and that all government primary and upper primary schools across the state will remain open. On the same day, special programmes will be organised to mark the birth centenary of former Prime Minister and BJP co-founder Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to the order, student attendance will be mandatory.
The departmental directive instructs schools to organise speeches, cultural programmes, poetry recitations, and essay competitions highlighting Vajpayee’s life and contributions. The decision effectively ends the decades-old tradition of observing Christmas as a school holiday.
According to a report by Maktoob Media, the decision followed demands raised by leaders of the Bajrang Dal in Saharanpur district. In a memorandum submitted under the leadership of the organisation’s former state coordinator Vikas Tyagi and former district president Kapil Mauhda, the group demanded that December 25 be observed not as Christmas but as “Bal Gaurav Diwas” and “Good Governance Day.”
The memorandum also called for a ban on Christmas celebrations in schools and stressed the teaching of “Indian values.” It urged schools to conduct activities based on Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s poetry and ideological views.
The order has drawn sharp reactions from Christian organisations, teachers, and social activists. Dr John Dayal, General Secretary of the All India Christian Council, said that Christmas is the holiest day for Christians, and holding political programmes in schools on that day amounts to an affront to religious sentiments.
He said the move undermines the cultural and religious rights of the Christian community and deepens a sense of fear among minorities.
In a memorandum sent to the Union Home Minister, Christian organisations have also flagged the issue of rising violence against Christians. According to data from the United Christian Forum, 834 incidents were recorded in 2024, while 706 cases were reported up to November 2025.
The memorandum alleges that attacks are being carried out under the pretext of forced religious conversions, with Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh emerging as the most affected states. It also refers to cases of obstruction to burials, exhumation of graves, and alleged police inaction.
Dr Nihal Nazim, a government school teacher from Moradabad, told Maktoob Media that schools are meant to instil values of equality and coexistence among children. Replacing a religious festival with a political event, he said, runs contrary to the fundamental purpose of education.
Ansab, a former student of a Christian school in Aligarh, said Christmas has long been a shared cultural occasion for people of all communities, and its removal reflects insensitivity towards minorities.
It is noteworthy that in 2014, the Union government declared December 25 as “Good Governance Day” and designated it as a working day, a move that had also sparked controversy at the time. However, states such as Delhi, Punjab, and Kerala continue to recognise Christmas as a school holiday. Kerala’s Education Minister recently stated that schools would not be allowed to become “communal laboratories.”
Political and social analysts say that while honouring national leaders is important, decisions taken at the cost of a religious community’s faith raise serious questions about democratic and secular values.
