By Purna Prasad Mishra, Kathmandu, March 6: Holi, the festival of colours, has started to be celebrated in a more decent way in recent years. Until some years back, young women would stop venturing out in the Kathmandu streets nearly a week before the festival as they were often the targets of some unruly youths hurling balloons filled with coloured water.
Sometimes, water was hurled on the
women walking on the street below from roof top. Some rowdy revelers even went
to the extent of smearing colours on the faces of other people against their will.
Reports of pedestrians being thrown dirty water, being smeared with black paint
etc were also frequent.
It was unsafe for them to go out
during the festival. The women who went out for some urgent work used to come
home drenched.
But this uncivilized trend is
becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. People abandoned
this aberrant practice with the spread of the pandemic and since they were
confined indoors, although this bad trend has subsided before the spread of the
COVID-19.
But still there are some people who
resort to these kinds of aberrant practices in the name of celebrating the
festival of colours. Nepal Police have said such elements would be brought to
book. Police said so far they have not received any complaint of people
throwing water or water-filled balloons and smearing colour powder on anyone
against their will.
However, groups of people
especially youths, could be seen celebrating the festival amongst their friends
and families in decent way.
This year the festival is observed
in the hilly and mountainous districts today while it will be celebrated in the
Tarai-Madhes districts tomorrow.
Basantapur sees festivity since
morning
People have gathered at Basantapur
square in Kathmandu since morning today for the traditional Holi celebrations.
A ritualistic wooden pole with tufts of colourful strips of cloths known as
'chir' on its top end that was installed in the Basantapur Durbar Square a week
back heralding the start of the Phagu (Holi) festival is pulled down tonight.
It is taken to Tundikhel amidst the playing of folk musical instruments and
burnt. The ashes of the 'chir' are considered as talisman and people scramble
for getting hold of the ashes. They put tika mark of this ash on their forehead
in the belief that it drives away evil and protects from bad omen.
27 thousand security personnel
mobilised
Nepal Police has said 27 thousand
police personnel have been mobilised throughout the country for maintaining law
and order during the Holi festival this year. This number is apart from those
personnel mobilised for regular peace keeping, said Deputy Inspector General
Poshraj Pokharel, the spokesman for the Nepal Police.
According to him, no untoward
incidents have been reported in course of the festival throughout the country
so far today. Security has been beefed up in the big cities across the country,
including in Kathmandu.
Police are conducting checking at
more than 66 places, apart from the places of regular security checks, in the
federal capital.(RSS)