Ahead of Holi, images of mosques in Uttar Pradesh wrapped in tarpaulin emerged as startling symbols of a partisan administration bent on turning a day of vibrant festivity into one of joyless browbeating.

While the ostensible reason for the swaddling was to prevent mosques from being splashed with coloured water and powder by revellers, the real objective was obvious – to use the festival to assert a Hindu supremacist worldview.

The anxieties around the Hindu festival of spring were the result of the fact that Holi this year was being celebrated on a Friday, a day of congregational prayer for Muslims. These prayers assumed greater significance this Friday because the Islamic holy month of Ramzan is underway.

A week before the festival, a police officer in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district told Muslims to stay indoors if they did not want to “accept Holi colours”.

Chief Minister Adityanath backed up the official, saying that Friday prayers were not mandatory for Muslims. “He [the police officer] is a bodybuilder, and speaks like one,” the chief minister said. “Some people may feel bad, but he spoke the truth.”

A minister in Adityanath’s Cabinet, Raghuraj Singh, went a step further and advised Muslim men to cover themselves with a “tarpaulin hijab” if they did not want to accept Holi colours. In neighbouring Bihar too, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul’s preferred pathway to peace on Holi was also to advise Muslims to stay indoors.

Fortunately, the Holi celebrations as well as the Friday prayers passed off peacefully. There have not been any reports of major violence so far. However, this does not undermine the fact that these statements by BJP leaders could be read as giving a free pass to violent triumphalism.

In effect, they indicated that the state had abdicated its responsibility to protect all citizens as well as the freedom to practice their faith guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Elected representatives as well as police officials are expected to adhere to the principles of the Constitution, which require the state to treat all religions equally. In practice, this simply means that while Hindus are entirely free to celebrate Holi and other festivals, the festivities cannot be forced on those unwilling to participate in them.

Reiterating this simple legal principle and enforcing it should not be difficult – or controversial. And yet, when the Hyderabad Police issued a circular ahead of Holi advising revellers not to throw colour on those who did not want to participate in the practice and not to disturb peace, the advisory sparked an uproar among some Hindutva supporters on social media.

Echoing these views, BJP MLA T Raja Singh described the directive as dictatorial, and described the chief minister as “Telangana’s ninth Nizam”. He, too, suggested that the government could have appealed to Muslims to “cooperate for a day during Holi by staying off the roads”.

Such repeated calls by elected representatives to curb citizens’ right to free movement and the right to practice religion set a worrying precedent. They place the responsibility of ensuring peace on the shoulders of citizens rather than where it belongs – on the administration. Indeed, such remarks are not very different from statements of those in power seeking to place the responsibility of women’s safety on women themselves, rather than the law enforcement authorities.

Ahead of Holi this year, majoritarian political rhetoric and partisan administrative actions led to much avoidable polarisation. Such polarisation does a disservice to ordinary citizens for whom festivals are occasions for joy, not bigotry.

Here is a summary of the week’s top stories.

The language controversy. The Tamil Nadu government replaced the rupee symbol (₹) in the logo for the 2025-’26 state Budget with the Tamil letters for “ru” – from “rupai” (rupees in Tamil), drawing criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The new logo, which reads “Ellorkkum Ellaam” (Everything for Everyone), was released by Chief Minister MK Stalin’s office ahead of Friday’s Budget presentation.

Tamil Nadu Planning Commission Executive Vice Chairman J Jeyaranjan told ANI: “We don't want to use the Devanagri. That’s all.” The DMK’s Saravanan Annadurai said: “We just wanted to give importance to Tamil this year.”

BJP leaders claimed that this was an insult to the rupee symbol designed by Tamilian Udhay Kumar. K Annamalai wrote: “How stupid can you become, Thiru MK Stalin?” The Hindutva party’s Amit Malviya and Tamilisai Soundararajan also attacked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, describing the move as “ridiculous” and an indication of the Dravidian party’s “anti-national mindset”.

Satellite internet debate. The Congress has alleged that the partnerships announced by Airtel and Jio with Elon Musk’s Starlink, to provide satellite internet services in India, were arranged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to buy goodwill” with United States President Donald Trump.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the companies had “seemingly overcome all their objections to [Starlink’s] entry into India”, adding that it was “abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself”.

Starlink’s application for a licence to operate in India is pending. Ramesh raised national security concerns, asking who would control internet connectivity via Starlink in emergencies.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale pointed to a deleted tweet by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcoming Starlink to India and claimed: “The ‘govt approval’ is clearly guaranteed.”

Congress Spokesperson Shama Mohamed accused the government of bypassing auctions. “They are bending over for Elon Musk and Trump, risking national security and creating a monopoly in India,” she said.

Also read: Airtel, Jio long opposed Musk’s Starlink – so why have they suddenly agreed to get it to India?

A take down order. The Delhi High Court directed Google, Meta and X to take down a video by YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh that allegedly defames Isha Foundation and its founder Jaggi Vasudev. The video, titled Sadhguru Exposed: What’s happening in Jaggi Vasudev’s Ashram, was uploaded on February 24 and shared on social media, alleging exploitation of minors at the spiritual leader’s ashram.

Acting on a defamation suit filed by the foundation, the court also restrained Singh from republishing or disseminating the content. Isha Foundation said the video was “false and malicious”, timed deliberately to coincide with Maha Shivratri celebrations attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The court will hear the interim plea in May and the main suit in July. Singh faces a similar suit from Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in 2017 for raping two of his women disciples at the Dera headquarters in Haryana’s Sirsa district.

Maharashtra politics. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has supported a call to remove Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar but said any action must comply with legal procedures, as the site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

He made the remark at an event on Saturday in response to BJP leader MP Udayanraje Bhosale’s demand to remove the tomb. Bhosale is a descendant of Maratha ruler Shivaji, who is seen in Maharashtra as a symbol of resistance to Mughal rule.

Fadnavis noted the tomb came under the Archaeological Survey’s protection during the Congress regime.

Also on Scroll this week

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