Prague, March 2 (CTK) – New Czech special days will mark Emperor Charles IV and the elderly and the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy on November 17 will be also remembered as the International Students’ Day, under a bill that MPs passed on Wednesday.
The amendment to the law on holidays, which Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, approved, is yet to be assessed by the Senate, the upper house, and signed by President Milos Zeman into law.
The renaming of the national holiday on November 17 to “The International Students Day and Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy” was pushed through by former justice minister Helena Valkova (ANO).
She argues that the events on November 17, 1939 when Czech students protested against the Nazi occupation and were persecuted should not be overshadowed by the November 1989 Velvet Revolution that stirred up the collapse of the communist regime.
The International Students’ Day originally commemorated exactly the Nazi suppression of Czech students and closing of universities in 1939.
The new bill would also introduce “the Day of Charles IV,” the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia (1316-1378), on May 14 when this most significant Czech king was born, and “the Day of Senior Citizens” on October 1.
