Akash Sama­roo

While the In­ter-Re­li­gious Or­gan­i­sa­tion (IRO) has wel­comed the Gov­ern­ment’s de­ci­sion to re­place this year’s In­de­pen­dence Day cel­e­bra­tions with a Na­tion­al Day of Prayer, the Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha (SDMS) ex­pressed con­cern over the tim­ing of the an­nounce­ment.

The SDMS told Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day it ful­ly sup­ports the move, par­tic­u­lar­ly the ban on noisy fire­works. How­ev­er, Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al Vi­jay Ma­haraj said the an­nounce­ment seemed rushed, which he be­lieves has con­tributed to some of the di­vi­sive pub­lic re­ac­tions.