At the end of August, Woodstock unexpectedly closed for a day after religious riots broke out in Orissa (a state near Calcutta, far from Mussoorie). Christian schools were asked to close primarily to take a stand against the violence, but also just in case more religious riots broke out.
On Wednesday, we started school as usual but during second period an assembly was called to cancel school for the remainder of the day. This marks the second time school has been closed this semester. In fact, these are the only two instances where school has been closed unexpectedly like this in years. The decision was made, like Orissa, for solidarity as well as safety. It has been difficult to sort through the information and news as there is little national coverage of the events and Woodstock has to speak lightly in the best interests of the students.
From what I have gathered, the BJP (conservative political party) has called for a nation-wide closing of educational institutions. Their reasoning for the bandh (strike) is to protest recent violence, particularly the unusual number of bomb blasts that have occured in the last few months. They have labeled undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants as the source of the bomb blasts and so are blaming the INC (political party in power) for the presence of these Bangladeshis in India. Along with the closing of schools, there are some marches, one of which was rumored to be going through Mussoorie and passing through campus. Some Woodstock staff members have no fears about this, but others were concerned that violence could result. Woodstock is put in a difficult position. By closing the school, it is in some ways acting in solidarity with the conservative political party against Bangladeshi immigrants (which there are a good number of at Woodstock). If it doesn't close, it is isolating itself and potentially could become a target. Turns out, as I had guessed, nothing happened except the enjoyment of skipping classes for the day!
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