'Don't force students to dress up as Santa': Schools in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar warned

Schools must not put unnecessary pressure on students or parents to participate in such activities, says order issued by Education Department

The Education Department in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district has warned private schools against compelling students to dress up as Santa Claus during Christmas celebrations.

In an order issued on December 22, Additional District Education Officer Ashok Wadhwa said action would be taken if any complaint in this regard is filed. Wadhwa said schools must not put unnecessary pressure on students or parents to participate in such activities.

Wadhwa said there is no objection if activities related to Christmas are organised with the consent of parents and children. However, if students are compelled or parents are pressurised, the school management concerned will be held responsible.

He said December 25 is also observed as 'Veer Bal Diwas' to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of the Sahibzadas, and schools should maintain sensitivity and balance in their programmes without any coercion.

However, 'Veer Bal Diwas' is on December 26.

The order mentioned a representation by the Bharat-Tibet Sahyog Manch to the district education authorities, alleging that some schools have been compelling children to dress up as Santa Claus in recent years, causing resentment among parents.

The organisation said Sriganganagar is predominantly a Hindu-Sikh majority area and no particular tradition should be imposed.

'Alarming rise in attacks'

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) had on Tuesday unequivocally condemned the "alarming" rise in alleged attacks on Christians in various States during the Christmas season, and said it gravely undermined India’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion.

The Catholic Bishops' body urged Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure strict enforcement of the law and proactive protection for Christian communities so that Christmas may be celebrated peacefully.

This followed several cases of various groups disrupting Christmas gatherings and harassing vendors.

In once such incident reported from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, a visually challenged woman attending a Christmas programme was publicly abused and physically harassed allegedly by BJP City vice president Anju Bhargava

Santa hat sellers targeted in Odisha

A few days ago, a video doing the rounds on social media showed a group of men bullying street vendors for selling Santa hats. The video, seemingly recorded by one of the men themselves shows a man walking out of a car as he goes from one vendor to another, yelling at them for celebrating a "foreign festival" as he claims India is "a Hindu country".

"Yeh Hindu rashtra hai. Yahan Christian ka chalega nahin (This is a Hindu rashtra. We won't tolerate Christian items here)," the man can be heard yelling at the vendors.

The other man asks the vendor if he is Hindu, then questions him, "How can you do all this?"

The three men visible on camera could be seen pressuring the vendor to stop selling Santa hats and wind the shop up.