Festival of colours
Holi is festival of colours and the festival of love. It is an ancient Hindu religious festival, which has become popular with many non-Hindus too taking part in the festivities in many parts of India and around the World.
People celebrate the festival by throwing dry colours and balloons filled with coloured water on each other. It is usually celebrated with families and friends coming together to observe the onset of spring.
The festival has in recent times spread in parts of Australia, Europe and North and South Americas too as a spring celebration of love, frolic and colours.
Holi, the festival of colours, brings joy and fun. However, as we get into the spirit of this festival, it is important to be watchful about your skin and body.
Colours were traditionally made from dried flowers and herbs, but with time, harsh chemicals and dyes have replaced these natural ingredients. Every year during Holi, we hear of people suffering due to the use of colours that contains harmful chemicals.
So please play Holi with caution.
Jubel D’Cruz
A step for world peace
It is good to hear that the U.S. recently signed a deal with the Taliban that could pave the way for a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan over the next 14 months. This is a step towards ending the 18–year war in the nation. This should bring peace in Afghanistan opening way for its development. It proved that no one could be defeated by power. All involved parties in the conflict seem to be missing the big picture that is US has lost this war.
Mahmood Qasmi Magdhi
Parking protest safely out of sight
Since December 2019, persistent peaceful protests and performances have addressed the commuting public using not just slogans and banners, but art, performance and speeches. It will certainly go down as the most creative and sustained ‘occupation’ since the freedom struggle. But here, we well know, the protesters will largely be speaking to themselves. They will no longer be a reminder to elected representatives and the general public of what is at stake in their opposition to CAA. Such bans, if implemented, will be difficult for any political party to sustain since our noisy republic relies as much on street mobilisations for its political existence as on elections. Above all, it will diminish the dynamic relationship between monumental city architecture and citizens between flesh and stone.
Amjadullah Abuzar Bajpatti
Police and its atrocities
There is no doubt that police have played a crucial role in the Delhi riots as it was exposed through the videos that went on viral. But it is regretful that not a single FIR has been filed against the alleged police atrocities in any of the stations in northeast Delhi. I want to say that the first step to bring back normalcy in the area is to ensure the credibility of the police to act in an impartial manner because police were either absent during the riots or were mute spectators to the violence.
M Qasmi Nadwi
Ban on protests at Town Hall untenable
The decision of the BJP-controlled Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to impose a blanket ban on protests at the Town Hall is a retrograde step which hits at the very root of the right to expression enshrined in the Constitution. In the post-Independence era, the Town Hall and another popular protest site, Mysore Bank Circle, together emerged as the cradles of democratic participation enabling people from all walks of life to raise their voices against the government of the day and shape the future of the state in many ways. In the recent past, the steps leading to the iconic Town Hall have turned into ground zero for demonstrators both for and against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), more so for the latter. With the anti-CAA protests showing no signs of abating, BBMP’s move is a clear attempt to curb people’s dissent on the issue.
Tarique Anwar Banglore
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
