As the country celebrated Holi last week and a riot of colours ensued, a few sites stood out, not for their vibrant colours, but for their erasure.
These sites remained covered, beneath cloth and tarpaulin, as if their existence had to be hidden.
These sites were mosques, scattered across various parts of Uttar Pradesh. The idea, Uttar Pradesh police officials confidently put forth, was that this way, Hindu processionists could celebrate Holi freely and “any law and order situation can be avoided”, cops told journalists. Chief minister Adityanath was less coy. Speaking on an ANI podcast, he likened Holi processions attempting to throw colours at mosques to Muharram processions casting a “shadow” over temples.
As a result, nearly 200 mosques were engulfed entirely with tarpaulin sheets, invisibilising them for the convenience of Hindu revellers.
For a while, we have seen how Hindu festivals have become playgrounds for Hindutva groups to stoke tensions and violence.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
