Madhesi Ekta Samaj celebrates Holi festival in Dubai

By a staff reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 25: The Madhesi Ekta Samaj, an international umbrella organisation of Nepal's migrant Madhesis, celebrated this year's Holi festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.

The UAE chapter of the Madhesi Ekta Samaj marked the Holi festival with fanfare and grandeur. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal Upendra Yadav was the chief guest of the celebration. 

More than 700 Nepali people from the Madheshi community participated in the programme and exchanged Holi greetings by sharing colours and garlands. 

On the occasion, cultural programmes were staged with performances from singer Raviraj Sah and dancer Shobha Paswan.

Dozens of Nepali artists living in the UAE as migrant workers also gave their cultural performances.  Mostly, songs and dances related to the Holi festival were performed. Food items of the Madhes were another attraction of the celebration. 

The cultural event, chaired by the Samaj’s UAE President Roshan Marxist, was attended by Nepali Ambassador to the UAE Tej Bahadur Chhetri, Madhesi Ekta Samaj founder and International President Dr. Rabindra Kumar Yadav, the Embassy’s Third Secretary Bimalesh Mishra, Labor Attaché Pankaj Lav Karna, Madhesi Ekta Samaj’s Nepal Coordinator Dr. Bobby Singh Yadav, General Secretary of the International Committee Mukesh Jha and others. 

Although the Holi will be celebrated on March 14 in Nepal, the holy month of Ramadan runs from February 28 to March 30, so the Holi celebration in Dubai was organised on February 23.

Earlier on Saturday, the Madhesh Ekta Samaj UAE, organised an interaction programme in Dubai in the presence of former Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav. The program was attended by more than 100 workers, professionals and community representatives.

On the occasion, Dr. Rabindra Kumar Yadav presented the organisation’s objectives, recent achievements and future plans. He expressed his commitment to prioritising labour rights, education, health and policy reforms of the Nepali diaspora for the rights and development of the Madhesi community spreading across the world. 

Similarly, former DPM Yadav reiterated his commitment to policy reforms related to the migrant Nepali workers. He also said that the migrant Nepalis could play a vital role in the development of Nepal.