Madhya Pradesh minister calls for shunning New Year celebrations

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh higher education minister Jaibhan Pawaiya on Wednesday called for shunning New Year’s Day celebration by Hindus inviting criticism from several quarters.

“New Year’s Day celebration is a Western concept. We do not follow the English calendar to observe our festivals. Hindus have their own calendar and we should observe festivals as suggested in Hindu calendars,” the saffron leader declared while addressing a gathering here.

Mr Pawaiya said Hindus should strictly follow the Hindu calendars and shun the English calendar to preserve the rich heritage and culture of India and exhorted the Hindus not to celebrate the English New Year’s Day.

Ruling BJP legislator Mohan Yadav backed Mr Pawaiya, saying the practice of celebrating New Year’s Day must be done away with. He went to the extent of dubbing the New Year’s Day celebration as “dirty act”.

The Opposition Congress slammed the minister and his party MLA for the remarks, describing it “narrow mindset”.

“No one can dictate others what occasions to celebrate. On one hand, the BJP is calling for shunning the New Year’s Day celebration, on the other it is observing birth anniversaries of its prominent leaders  as per English calendar,” Congress spokes-man here Pankaj Chatu-rvedy said.