SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
March 16, 2006
Varanasi, March 15: Varanasi’s tradition of communal peace
had held through the initial shock of the blasts,
with Muslims joining Hindus at the peace marches and blood camps, sharing
their sense of tragedy.
Today that spirit of solidarity took on a new colour as
Muslims came out to share the Hindus’ festive mood as well, by celebrating
Holi together.
The BJP and other sangh parivar groups had called
on people to boycott the festival in protest against "Islamic terror in
Varanasi". But the markets were bustling last evening and it was quite
early in the morning today when groups of young men and women hit the
streets with sprinklers.
Men dressed as women danced on the roads as crowds cheered
delightedly and foreign tourists watched, fascinated. The narrow lanes
were bustling with people buying gulal, paint, sweets and gifts.
The Sankat Mochan temple organised special prayers with
the priests and mahants greeting devotees with gulal.
"By the grace of the almighty, Varanasi has decided to
call its soul its own," said a relieved Mohammad Abdul Wateen Numani, a
Muslim community leader who offered symbolic prayers at the temple with
Hindu worshippers.
"During my childhood, I played Holi with my Hindu friends
here and I am thrilled to see the same tradition prevail over nafrat ki
fiza (climate of hate) today as the Muslims also participated in the
festival of colour," said shehnai legend Bismillah Khan, who has been at
the forefront of the solidarity drive since the March 7 blasts.
Last evening, the Sankat Mochan temple was decorated with
rows of earthen candles in memory of the blast victims.
"We thank god that the people of Varanasi have refused to
take the blasts as the beginning of a potentially long cycle of terror,"
senior temple mahant Biswambharnath Mishra said. "The Varanasi spirit is
as alive as ever."
The police and railway authorities had stepped up security
in and around the Sankat Mochan temple and the Cantonment station – the
sites of the blasts – but this failed to dampen the revellers’ mood.
As part of a new security plan at the temple, devotees had
to pass through door frame metal detectors and were frisked by the police
armed with hand held detectors. A permanent picket, manned by 30 policemen
including two inspectors, has been set up outside the temple.
At the Cantonment station, which teemed with railway
police personnel, video cameras watched the passengers.
Japanese Kei Noguchi, a third-time visitor to Varanasi,
was dancing to drumbeats in a crowd at Asi ghat, his face smeared with
colour.
"I had been scared a lot before coming here as I had heard
about the blasts," the man from Kyoto said. "But after I reached
yesterday, I was relieved to see that the town was exactly like I had seen
it 10 years ago."
(Courtesy: The Telegraph.)