- Friday, February 28, 2025
The country’s Higher Education Commission banned campus celebrations of Holi on June 20 on the grounds it was an erosion of its Islamic identity.
By: India Weekly Staff
EDUCATION officials in Muslim-majority Pakistan have withdrawn an order that banned university students from celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi after the original notice sparked outrage on social media.
On Tuesday (20), the Higher Education Commission banned campus celebrations of Holi on the grounds it was an “erosion of the country’s Islamic identity”, after videos appeared on social media showing groups of youngsters dousing each other with coloured powder.
The order said the scenes “caused concern and has disadvantageously affected the country’s image”.
Discrimination and violence against religious minorities are common in Pakistan, where Muslims make up 97 percent of the population and Hindus just two percent.
Salman Sufi, an aide to prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, said the minister of education had taken “stern notice” of the original ban.
“Religious harmony is to be celebrated rather than deterred… We must bring cohesion rather than division in our society,” he tweeted.
In Thursday’s new order, the education commission said its earlier notification “regrettably led to misinterpretation”, and was withdrawn.
“It was truly perplexing to witness a bureaucratic order holding the constitution hostage, which guarantees the freedom of religion,” said Kapil Dev, a Hindu rights activist.
“The withdrawal of the misguided notification is a welcome decision, although it should not have been issued in the first place,” he told AFP.
In the past, Pakistan has prohibited Valentine’s Day celebrations, banned contraception adverts on TV, and blocked several social media networks, citing them as immoral and contradictory to Islamic values.
Last year the United States placed Pakistan on a list of “countries of particular concern” for religious freedom.
(AFP)
