In a small village called Gidaur in Jharkhand, Hindu students celebrated Saraswati puja after 50 long years amidst heavy police presence. The Hindu students had not celebrated Saraswati Puja in Manjhgawantri High School because majority of students who were studying in the school were Muslims. This year, amidst police presence, the Hindu students celebrated their festivals, reported Jagran.
On the Saraswati Puja celebration, Block Development Officer Poonam Kujur, Magistrate Ajay Bhagat, DSP Prabhu Dev Kujur, Station In-charge Sushil Kumar, Panchayati Raj Officer Mo. Nasim Uddin Ansari, deputed magistrate Rupesh Mahato and district police force personnel were deployed.
For long, the village was on tenterhooks as there was tension prevailing between the Hindu and Muslim communities of the village. The tension was mainly due to Hindu students of the High School not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja because of the Muslim students of the school. Reportedly, even in the Peace meetings of the community, this issue was often the dominant issue discussed.
Manjhgawantri High School in Gidaur was established in 1972 as a Primary School first. In the year 2006, the school was upgraded to a middle school and thereafter, in 2010, it was converted into a High School. For several years, Hindu students were paltry in this school and the student population was dominated by Muslim students. Owing to this, Saraswati Puja was not celebrated in the school, however, after the school turned into a high school, more Hindu students took admission and the demand for Saraswati Puja celebration only grew louder.
The demands to celebrate the Puja also gave rise to communal tension in the village.
On January 28, an application was made by the school children to celebrate Saraswati Puja at the block office and local police station. Subsequently, the administration deployed police personnel in the school a day before. After which, on Thursday, a statue of Goddess Saraswati of Vidya was installed and worshipped.
