India: Violence Against Women on Holi Reeks of Communal and Racial Tensions

Holi is a hindu festival of colors and is celebrated across india with great enthusiasm. Numerous cases of violence, molestation, and harassment of women and minorities during march 7 and 8 when holi was celebrated in various parts of the country came to light on social media. While “bura na mano holi hai” (don’t feel bad, it’s holi) is used to justify all such nefarious behaviors, where women are most frequently the target, the celebration of holi in india is frequently tarnished by incidences of molestation and harassment. However, in recent years, the festival has been marred by incidents of violence, particularly against women belonging to minority and marginalized communities.

This year, violence against women during the festivities of holi emerged in the news of the incident met out to a japanese woman. Violence Against Women  However, this was not the only incident of violence against women that took place at the festival of holi. Other incidents with rather less to no reportage were the attacks to muslim women and those belonging to marginalized communities. Over the years incidents of violence against women during holi reek of not just communal but recently racial tensions.

‘I was terrified’: japanese woman tweets after being assaulted during holi

Recently, a video of a group of indian men assaulting a japanese woman in delhi during the holi celebrations went viral online. The woman responded to the incident on twitter, calling it “unfortunate” and clarifying that her purpose was not to “defame the festival.” in a series of tweets roughly translated from japanese, the woman wrote, “I had heard that it was very dangerous for a woman to go out alone during the daytime at the holi festival, an indian festival that I participated in, so I participated in the event with a total of 35 other friends. Unfortunately, this kind of situation happened…”