After Bangalore made headlines the world over for incidents of mass molestation and assault on New Year’s Eve, a strict notice circulated in Delhi University’s hostels barred students from participating in the Holi celebrations because of growing harassment trends.
Students at the varsity were locked inside their hostels after 9pm on Sunday, while the rest of the city saw people tossing dye at each other getting high off bhang – an intoxicating cannabis-based drink.
The Delhi University notification reflected the negative side of the Holi festival, which sees an increase in street harassment suffered by women at the hands of unruly men on roads.
“It’s a very sexualised thing. You get touched or hit on your buttocks or your breasts,” said Devangana Kalita, an activist and researcher at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“There’s a particular targeting of women’s genital parts,” added Shristi Satyawati, who tried filing a report against the men who pelted her with water balloons “on my breasts and bum”.
“I was deeply agitated, but the police said they couldn’t lodge a case. They said it was Holi – they couldn’t do anything about it,” she said.
Meanwhile, people who express displeasure over being covered with the colour get a stock response: “Don’t be offended, it’s Holi.”
Sabika Abbas Naqvi, president of Delhi’s student union residing in hostels, was of the opinion that women now shun public gatherings because they usually get out of hand.
“The idea of consent does not exist during Holi,” she said. “Women are deleted from public spaces during these festivals because of the fear of harassment.”
The city’s police said they would deploy some 25,000 personnel to pre-empt any untoward incident and hooliganism amid the celebrations.
However, the varsity hostels’ doors remained locked to the anger of women and students rights activists.
“The men can remain free and roam about, but the women who are the supposed victims need to stay – it’s atrocious,” Naqvi said.
Sophie Whitehead, a 21-year-old from the University of Edinburgh, studying in Delhi on an exchange, felt degraded when she was locked up on the occasion.
“It’s a strange feeling to be completely unable to go out,” she said. “I understand that Holi can be dangerous, there are big crowds [and] probably a risk of groping. And there’s been a lot more men out on the streets over the past few days, so I think it would be better to avoid the crowds.
“But we’re old enough to make our own decisions,” she said. “It’s quite degrading – we can’t even leave to grab a drink or food.”
Courtesy: The Guardian
