- Sunday, November 24, 2024
The move comes day after the students of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad were found celebrating Holi on the institute’s campus on June 12.
By: Shubham Ghosh
IN A move that certain sections of the Indian media called an instance of Hinduphobia, Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) has banned celebration of Holi or the festival of colour across universities in the country. Its executive director wrote to vice chancellors of all the universities to notify about the ban.
The move comes day after the students of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad were found celebrating Holi on the institute’s campus on June 12. Videos of the event went viral.
In a notice, the commission said students were not allowed to celebrate the festival so that they do not get disconnected from Pakistan’s socio-cultural values and called such activities an erosion of the country’s Islamic identity, an India Today report said.
Holi celebrations in Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan ?
Biggest holi celebration in Pakistan ? pic.twitter.com/xdBXwYEglt— QAU News (@NewsQau) June 13, 2023
Acknowledging that cultural, ethnic and religious diversity leads to an inclusive and tolerant society that respects all faiths and creeds, the commission’s notice said things should be done in a measured manner and that the students should be made aware “of the self-serving vested interests who use them for their own ends far from the altruistic critical thinking paradigm”.
The Pakistan Higher Education Commission has banned Holi celebrations across all educational institutes saying that such activities portray a complete disconnect from the country’s sociocultural values and are an erosion of the country’s Islamic identity. https://t.co/mvBKtqiSMb pic.twitter.com/dFwZ1zUABm
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) June 21, 2023
The HEC, in an apparent reference to the Holi celebrations in QAU, said the widely publicised event from the platform of a university has caused concern and disadvantageously affected Pakistan’s image.
In the video that emerged from QAU campus, students were seen playing Holi and enjoying celebrations on the institute’s campus.
The event was held by the Mehran Students’ Council, a non-political cultural body of the university, according to reports.
In March, the month when Holi is celebrated every year, at least 15 students from Pakistan’s minority Hindu community were injured after they were attacked by members of a radical Islamic student organisation stopped them from celebrating the festival of colour at the premises of the Punjab University in Lahore.
