Colour riot before going home...
‘We are mature’, students said to justify the festive revelry
VARANASI: Students of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) celebrated Holi by smearing each other’s faces with abir and gulal, before leaving for their houses on Tuesday.
BHU administration on Monday declared Holi holidays from March 23 itself after four students of two different hostels tested positive on Sunday.
Those who tested positive for COVID-19 have been quarantined in their hostel rooms.
While leaving for their homes, students engaged in Holi revelry.
“Before leaving for our homes we are celebrating the festival of Holi with our friends. By doing so we are trying to do away with the disappointment caused by Covid-19 pandemic,” said a student on condition that his identity should not be revealed.
Soaked in Holi colours, the student turned towards a group of students and urged them to continue smearing each other with colours.
“Gulal and abir are inseparable part of Holi and I urge you to enjoy the festival,” he said to his friends.
He and few others then started chanting, “go corona go!”
“May the Holi colours be as dark as they were before the advent of corona,” the students said while taking a selfie.
Allaying all corona fears, another BHU student said. “Just enjoy and watch our Holi celebration. Corona cannot stop us from celebrating the Holi,” he said.
The students however claimed that they followed the COVID-19 protocol while celebrating with their friends on campus. “We know what is good and what is not. We are mature. We celebrated Holi on our own responsibility,” said another student.
BHU public relations officer Dr Rajesh Singh said that all the students have been asked to follow all the guidelines, including wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and to avoid visiting crowded places. He appealed to all the students to follow guidelines and take all preventive measures to keep Covid-19 infection away.