KATHMANDU: Holi, the festival of colors, has started to be celebrated in a more decent way in recent years.
Until some years back, young women would stop venturing out in the Kathmandu streets nearly a week before the festival as they were often the targets of some unruly youths hurling balloons filled with colored water.
Sometimes, water was hurled at the women walking on the street below from the rooftop. Some rowdy revelers even went to the extent of smearing colors on the faces of other people against their will. Reports of pedestrians being thrown dirty water, being smeared with black paint etc were also frequent.
It was unsafe for them to go out during the festival. The women who went out for some urgent work used to come home drenched.
But this uncivilized trend is becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. People abandoned this aberrant practice with the spread of the pandemic and since they were confined indoors, although this bad trend subsided before the spread of COVID-19.
But still, there are some people who resort to these kinds of aberrant practices in the name of celebrating the festival of colors. Nepal Police have said such elements would be brought to book. Police said so far they have not received any complaints of people throwing water or water-filled balloons and smearing colored powder on anyone against their will.
However, groups of people especially youths could be seen celebrating the festival amongst their friends and families in a decent way.
This year the festival is observed in the hilly and mountainous districts today while it will be celebrated in the Tarai-Madhes districts tomorrow.
Basantapur sees festivity since morning
People have gathered at Basantapur square in Kathmandu since morning today for the traditional Holi celebrations.
A ritualistic wooden pole with tufts of colorful strips of cloth known as ‘chir’ on its top end that was installed in the Basantapur Durbar Square a week back heralding the start of the Phagu (Holi) festival is pulled down tonight. It is taken to Tundikhel amidst the playing of folk musical instruments and burnt. The ashes of the ‘chir’ are considered talismans and people scramble for getting hold of the ashes. They put the tika mark of this ash on their forehead in the belief that it drives away evil and protects them from bad omens.
27 thousand security personnel mobilized
Nepal Police has said 27 thousand police personnel have been mobilized throughout the country for maintaining law and order during the Holi festival this year.
This number is apart from that personnel mobilized for regular peacekeeping, said Deputy Inspector General Poshraj Pokharel, the spokesman for the Nepal Police.
According to him, no untoward incidents have been reported in course of the festival throughout the country so far today. Security has been beefed up in the big cities across the country, including in Kathmandu.
Police are conducting checking at more than 66 places, apart from the places of regular security checks, in the federal capital.
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