Karachi: One of the largest and oldest temples in this port city, Swami Narain Mandir, was the scene of revelry on Thursday, with thousands of people playing with bright colours on the Hindu festival of Holi.
Girls, boys, men, women and children threw fistfuls of red, orange, green, pink, yellow and blue powder, or sprayed liquid colours, as many young men and women had their faces painted.
“It is not only our religious festival but also an event when we have a lot of fun,” Simran Kumari, a 24-year-old woman, told Gulf News.
This year the joy of Holi has doubled as the provincial Sindh government announced the public holiday to mark the day, the first time in the history of the country, where the Hindu population accounts for two per cent of the total 200 million population.
“Earlier, we had to obtain leave from our respective offices or work places but now it gives a big relief that it’s a public holiday,” Dr Raj Ashok, a member of the Shiv Temple Committee, said.
“It makes us feel that we are also Pakistani like other communities and Muslims,” Kumar said.
Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also participated in the Holi celebrations, commemorated at Hindu Gymkhana, overnight.
Addressing the Hindus, Shah said his government gave equal opportunities and respect to minorities in all sociopolitical sectors.
Shah reminded the minorities of the Hindu Marriage Bill, the provincial government passed only weeks ago giving the opportunity to the community to get their weddings registered and thus do away with much hassle in the daily lives.
“You will be able to lead your family life according to your customs, traditions and norms,” Shah told the audience.
The Hindus were also happy over the new law.
“The new law will help us to get our marriages registered with NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) to get our national identity cards, heirship certificates and other vital documents for which we had to face a lot of difficulties,” Dr Ashok said.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) visited Umarkot, a Hindu populated town in Tharparkar district, to hold a big rally to celebrate Holi along with the Hindu population.
Nevertheless, many members of the Hindu community working in media houses and at private firms were deprived of the public holiday.
“We are not paid sufficiently to feed our children, we have not been given a holiday today,” a 40-year-old Hindu, who works at a media house and did not want to be named for fear of losing his job, said.
Komal Rani, a 25-year woman, who works for a private bank also complained that there was no holiday at the bank.
