Gurugram: Haryana’s Nayab Singh Saini government declared Thursday that Eid-ul-Fitr will not be observed as a gazetted holiday, but as a restricted one on 31 March, a decision attributed to the festival coinciding with the end of the financial year. The announcement has sparked heavy criticism from opposition leaders, who called it an affront to the Muslim community.
This matter resonated in the state assembly Thursday as Congress MLA from Nuh Aftab Ahmed said, “We have only one festival, and it is celebrated across India. The gazetted holiday has been turned into a restricted one.”
CM Saini responded saying, “This decision was made due to the financial year-end. March 31 is the last day of the financial year.”
Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda weighed in as well, saying: “This is wrong. It’s happening across the country.” The CM then said, “Let’s not make this an issue in the House.”
The government’s notification, amending a 26 December 2024 directive, said: “Given that March 29 and 30, 2025, fall on a weekend, and March 31 marks the closure of the Financial Year 2024-25, Eid-ul-Fitr on March 31 will now be classified as a restricted holiday (Schedule-II) rather than a gazetted holiday.”
In the holiday calendar issued by the Haryana government for the state, three gazetted holidays were listed for the month of March: Holi on 14 March (Friday), Shaheedi Diwas on 23 March (Sunday), and Eid-ul-Fitr on 31 March (Monday).
Unlike a gazetted holiday, which mandates closure of government offices and institutions, a restricted holiday is optional, leaving it to employees to decide whether to avail the day off.
Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, is set to be celebrated nationwide on 31 March.
There are nearly half a dozen assembly constituencies in the state where Muslim voters hold a decisive position. These include Ferozepur Jhirka, Punhana, Nuh, Hathin, Sohna, Yamunanagar, Sadhaura, and Jagadhri.
In last year’s elections to 90 seats in the Haryana assembly, five Muslim MLAs won, all from the Congress—Akram Khan from Jagadhri, Aftab Ahmed from Nuh, Mamman Khan from Ferozepur Jhirka, Mohammad Ilyas from Punhana, and Mohammad Israil from Hathin.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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