Dhaka, Bangladesh (CU)_ The Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) has requested the concerned officials and educational institutions to refrain from holding examinations on Easter Sunday. Additionally, the group urged the government to designate Easter a national holiday. Accordingly, BCA President Nirmol Rozario and Secretary Hemanta Corraya issued a press release urging the educational institutions not to schedule any exams on Easter Sunday on April 17.
According to the statement, “Easter Sunday is one of the major religious festivals of the Christian community all over the world. The day is an optional holiday in the official calendar but we have heard that some educational institutions will conduct exams on that day. Our demand is for students to be given leave to observe the holiday”.
Shojib Minj, a 22-year-old private university student belonging to Oran Catholic, was displeased because examinations were scheduled on Easter Sunday. Minj said, “We are now third-year students and our exams are ongoing. According to the routine, our course exam is on April 17, the day of Easter. But my wish is to go to the village and celebrate with my relatives and parents”.
Additionally, he requested the educational institutions not to schedule examinations on that day and suggested that the government proclaim Easter a public holiday. He said, “We have been campaigning for a public holiday on Easter Sunday for almost two decades, but there has been no response from the government”.
Christians constitute a small minority in Bangladesh, accounting to less than half percent of the country’s 160 million Muslims. According to the statistics, among the estimated 600,000 Christians, the vast majority of 400,000 belong to Catholics. The Christian community of Bangladesh has long pressed the government to declare Easter Sunday a national holiday, but the government has yet to provide one.
During a media interview, BCA secretary Corraya said, “We have been campaigning for a public holiday on Easter Sunday for almost two decades, but there has been no response from the government. In the future, we will take more people to the streets to ask for this holiday”. He added, “We want to demonstrate in the streets for our rights like a holiday at Easter, but we need assistance from the Church. If clergymen join with us, it would be easy to fulfill our demand.”
Dinajpur Bishop Sebastian Tudu stated that he concurred with the BCA’s demand. While addressing the media, he said, “Since Easter Sunday is our second largest religious event, examinations at educational institutions are not acceptable on that day. At the same time, from the responsible position of the Church, I also call upon the concerned authorities to declare this day a public holiday”.
