Faux pas: "Buddha Purnima" no longer a holiday in Mizoram?

"Buddha purnima" is the most sacred day for the Buddhists across the world including India. It is only natural that this day is a gazetted holiday in India along with other important auspicious days of various religions. Buddha Purnima is the unique day of the Buddha's birth, nirvana (enlightenment), and mahaparinirvana (death).

But surprisingly the list of holidays announced by the Mizoram government for 2012 (and available in its website http://mizoram.nic.in/gov/hol2012.htm ) does not include BUDDHA PURNIMA. It was of course a holiday in 2011 (see here: http://mizoram.nic.in/gov/hols.htm )

In the notified list of 2012, a number religious days have been declared holiday - Missionary Day, Holi, Mahavir Jayanti,  Rath Yatra, Idu’l Fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra (Vijay Dashmi), Diwali (Beepavali), Guru Nanak’s Birthday, and of course, Good Friday and Christmas Day, Christmas eve, and Christmas festival.

But surprisingly, the Buddha Purnima has been omitted.

 

The basic question I am asking here is: Is this omission an error, or is it a deliberate decision taken at the highest level of the state’s administration?

I hope and pray it is an inadvertent error. However, if it is not so, then it clearly forms a part of the bigger angle. That is, a clear message from the Mizoram government that "we do not care for the Buddhists (read Chakmas)".

On 27 April 2011, Chief Minister Mr Lalthanhawla termed the Chakmas as “hnawksak” (nuisance) which has racist connotations. Thereafter, he fails to issue any clarification or apologize for his irresponsible comment.

Has the exclusion of the “Buddha Purnima” from the official list of holidays anything to do with the Chief Minister’s April 27 statement?

The omission of Buddha Purnima is simply inexplicable and beyond common sense. The Buddhists constitute about 8% of Mizoram's population. As per 2001 census , there are only 179 Jains, 326 Sikhs, 10,099 Muslims, and 31,562 Hindus in Mizoram while the population of Buddhists was 70,494. This makes the Buddhists/Chakmas the largest minority - both in religious and ethnic senses. The omission of Buddha Purnima, therefore, naturally poses another question: Is it another example of neglect of the Buddhists who are mainly the Chakmas by the Mizoram government?

When, festivals like holi, Mahavir Jayanti,  Rath Yatra, Idu’l Fitr, Guru Nanak’s Birthday etc can be gazetted holidays, WHY CAN'T BUDDHA PURMINA be?

This is not a radical thought or a concept of religious fanaticism but a matter of human rights of the largest religious minorities (Buddhists) in Mizoram. In my view, this involves questions of the right to equality, non-discrimination and dignified life, among others. This involves a plain question as to why Buddha Purnima is not a government holiday in Mizoram when it is a gazetted holiday in the whole of India? 

If omission of Buddha Purnima is an inadvertent error, then the Mizoram government must immediately make necessary correction to the list of holidays in 2012. Failure to do so will only further alienate the already alienated Buddhist minorities/Chakmas, which, I think, should not be the aim of any government that swears by the constitution.