Mahatma Gandhi espoused the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity till the very last breath of his life and considered it as an indispensable condition not only for attainment of independence of India but also to realise the ideal of non-violence in practice on a sustained basis.
As a necessary corollary of it, he used to flag the point that people of diverse faiths should never be deterred from celebrating their respective festivals.
It is of seminal significance to recall the enduring vision of Gandhi in the context of the aggressive calls issued in some Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states by officials and those occupying high constitution positions asking Muslims who are fasting during the sacred month of Ramzan, to remain indoors on the occasion of Holi.
Many BJP leaders including UP chief minister Adityanath endorsed the appeal of a police official of the state that “Juma (Friday) comes 52 times a year, but Holi comes only once. Those who have a problem with the colours of Holi should stay indoors and offer their prayers there.”
This year, Holi is being celebrated on a Friday (Juma), so such appeals to Muslims to restrict themselves to their homes and covering several mosques in UP with huge sheets of tarpaulin have created an ecosystem marked by fear and intimidation of Muslims. It violates the cultural liberties of Muslims on the ground of their faith.
Gandhi on Holi
On March 28, 1938, while speaking at the Gandhi Seva Sangh meeting in Delang in Orissa (now Odisha), Mahatma Gandhi said that he would never ask Hindus to stop celebrating Holi in case a Muslim zamindar asked them to do so. Gandhi maintained that even if the celebration of Holi by Hindus would be suicidal in face of above dictats of a Muslim zamindar, they should not give up their religious practice on that account.
“I would myself,” he said, “ask the zamindar to come forward and kill me, for I would light the Holi fire right in front of him”.
“I would ask the Hindus,” he remarked, “not to break the heads of Muslims, but rather to sacrifice their own”. He proceeded to assert that nothing should be given up by getting stricken with fear and the fight based on rights would have to be launched by employing non-violent methods.
In 1938, Gandhi gave this hypothetical example to urge people to fight for their right to celebrate religious festivals. Eighty seven years later, it is not a zamindar but state functionaries who are following communally divisive policies in BJP-ruled states to segregate Muslims from Hindus on the grounds of their religious festivals, going against the constitutional vision of India.
Gandhi on Ramzan and non-violence
While addressing the Khudai Khidmatgars on October 23, 1938, Gandhi referred to the month of Ramzan that had just set in and told them how it could be used to make a start in non-violence. He said that Ramzan defined by abstention from food and drink should also be marked by shunning of anger, bitterness and acrimony to cultivate non-violence.
Ramzan was understood by Gandhi as a step towards non-violence. It is now used by BJP leaders to curb the cultural liberties of Muslims, restrict them to their homes and give primacy to Hindus.
The responsibility of the state under the Indian constitution is to treat all faiths equally and give equal opportunities to the adherents of the faiths for celebration of their festivals with dignity and poise.
Instructions of police
It is instructive that the UP police and the police of several other north Indian States have issued instructions on the occasion of the celebration of Holi. One such instruction is that all those engaged in celebrating Holi should be mindful of women’ dignity and modesty which under no circumstances should be outraged while playing with colours. In other words the police is apprehensive of the danger to women from those who taking the liberty of participating in a religious festival like Holi.
Language
Such apprehensions are evocative of what Mahatma Gandhi wrote about Holi on April 25, 1891. Writing about Indian festivals, he specifically devoted a section to Holi in an article titled ‘Some Indian Festivals III’ and wrote about the onset of spring. But he remarked sadly that language was being used during the fortnight preceding Holi. He wrote with a heavy heart, “In small villages it is difficult for ladies to appear without being bespattered with mud. They are the subject of obscene remarks. The same treatment is meted out to men without distinction. People form themselves into small parties. Then one party competes with another in using obscene language and singing obscene songs. All persons – men and children, but not women – take part in these revolting contests”.
Gandhi, however, remarked that “It is a relief to be able to say that with the progress of education and civilization such scenes are slowly, though surely, dying out. But the richer and refined classes use these holidays in a very decent way”.
Sadly 135 years after Gandhi uttered those words BJP-ruled states have slipped down the scale of education and civilisation and now Muslims are treated with contempt and hatred for observing their religious festivals. Only in the recent past they were targeted for offering Namaz in officially designated places and in some cases, even in the private spaces of their homes. Preventing them from coming out of their houses during Ramzan and hiding the mosques by covering them with thick layers of plastic just because Holi is celebrated by Hindus goes against ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ – equal respect for all faiths.
In his February 29, 1920 article on Hindu-Muslim unity, Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “My dream is that a Vaishnava, with a mark on his forehead and a bead necklace, or an ash-smeared Hindu with a rudraksha necklace, ever so punctilious in his sandhya and ablutions, and a pious Muslim saying his namaz regularly can live as brothers. God willing, the dream will be realised”.
S.N. Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K.R. Narayanan.
