A Muslim can choose not to participate in Holi and still remain secular

It would have been more progressive had the boy playing a Muslim in a recent detergent brand commercial said he doesn’t want to play Holi, and the other children had happily let him be. It would have sent out a stronger message of inclusivity and harmony.

urf excel, holi, holi ad, surf excel holi ad, boycott surf excel, hindu muslim, indian muslims — The ad has got the goat of the Hindu Right and evoked the charge of “love jihad” is also not surprising given the polarising times we are living in.

Does it make a Muslim communal in any way if she doesn’t celebrate Holi with her Hindu friends and acquaintances? She is often told: The Mughal courts used to be bathed in colours on this day; that the festival is all about India’s syncretic culture; and, it isn’t about religion but about the spring season.

These contentions are alright, but the answer to the question is a firm “No”. Reason: A Muslim has every right to choose not to participate in Holi or any festival and — still — remain secular. There is a mainstream assumption that a Muslim is a good Muslim only when she celebrates all festivals. Those who stay away are thought to be orthodox and unaccommodating. That assumption itself is communal in nature and gives no room for choice.

It would have been more progressive had the boy playing a Muslim in a recent detergent brand commercial — which is facing flak for being “anti-Hindu” — said that he doesn’t want to play Holi, and the other children had happily let him be. That would have sent out a stronger message of inclusivity, harmony and, most importantly, choice and consent.

This expectation of participation and conformity is not uniform, and is always guided by privilege. For instance, step into one of the many multi-storeyed apartments that dot Noida, Gurugram or Ghaziabad, and watch their residents celebrate Holi, Diwali and Janmashtami with gusto, more so now than earlier. They conveniently ignore Eid, while wearing secularism on their sleeves. Most of the schools where children — of the same age group as those in the detergent commercial — learn their values, forget Muslim festivals, while Hindu festivals are Indianised and Christian festivals secularised.