Salman Sufi, who heads the Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit, said on Wednesday that Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain had asked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to withdraw a notification in which it took exception to the Hindu festival of Holi being celebrated at a university.

“Have spoken to Rana Tanveer sahib, and he has taken stern notice of the notification by the HEC on discouraging religious festivals and has asked them to withdraw it,” tweeted Sufi hours after the media reported about the notification dated June 20.

The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was sent by HEC Executive Director Shaista Sohail to vice chancellors and heads of institutions.

In its letter, the HEC claimed the “widely reported/ publicised” event of the celebration of Holi by the platform of a university had “caused concern and disadvantageously affected the country’s image”.

The letter said that higher education institutions (HEIs) were responsible for disseminating knowledge and were essential for transforming the youth into “cultured individuals” while also creating a workforce with a skill set in accordance with the country’s needs.

It said that HEIs had the “ultimate responsibility to polish and nurture the exuberance of youth into learned, mature, and responsible citizens — ready to take on the reins of the country and play their role in nation building”.

“Public and private sector HEIs across the country are consequently relied upon to groom our youth into compassionate, discerning and refined individuals able to walk through life avoiding obvious pitfalls,” it said.

The letter said that HEC had been formulating its policies based on the concepts “embodied in our own culture, values and traditions, thus preserving the nation’s ideology”.

“Unfortunately, it is sad to witness activities that portray a complete disconnect from our socio-cultural values and an erosion of the country’s Islamic identity. One such instance that has caused concern was the fervour exhibited in marking [the] Hindu festival of Holi.

“This widely reported/publicised event from the platform of a university has caused concern and has disadvantageously affected the country’s image,” the letter said.

While the HEC letter did not name the varsity in question, it comes days after Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad gained attention on social media for hosting an event for Holi, which took place on March 8.

In one of the videos circulating on social media, students can be seen dancing and throwing colours in the air as loud music plays in the background.

“While there is no denying the fact that cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity leads towards an inclusive and tolerant society, that profoundly respects all faiths, and creeds; albeit it needs to be done so in a measured manner without going overboard. The students need to be apprised to be aware of the self-serving vested interests who use them for their own ends far from the altruistic critical thinking paradigm,” the HEC letter said.

The letter advised HEIs to “prudently distance” themselves from all such activities “obviously incompatible with the country’s identity and societal values”.

HEC faces criticism

The HEC’s letter drew the ire of netizens online. Sindhi journalist Veengas said Islamabad needed to understand that the Hindu festivals of Holi and Diwali were part of Sindhi culture.

“Islamabad neither accepts our Sindhi language nor does it honour the Hindu festivals,” she said.

Former Dawn editor Abbas Nasir said, “HEC should focus on plagiarised papers by PhDs as those actually tarnish the country’s image. Holi and other such festivals enhance the country’s image, create a mirage of pluralism.”

Lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to immediately take notice of the matter and demanded that the HEC withdrew the letter.

In his criticism of the HEC, he said: “A commission formed to regulate ‘higher education’ for students in Pakistan appears to be governed by forces who have no basic education about decency, community and need for diversity.”

Journalist Rabia Mehmood said she spoke to the HEC director who she said was “annoyed” at the press calling the restriction a “ban”. She added that the notification was “clearly discriminatory”.

Activist Ammar Ali Jan said the commission should be more concerned about the “dismal state of education” in Pakistan.

“Our universities are not even ranked in the top 1,000. Yet, HEC is more worried about students celebrating Holi. Such misplaced priorities are the reason for the intellectual/moral decay we see in society,” he said.

Researcher Ammar Rashid termed HEC’s letter “vile religious bigotry”.

In another tweet, he said, “Imagine the outrage if a European or Indian higher education secretary banned Eid celebrations in universities because they were ‘incompatible with the country’s values’.”

Lawyer Jahanzeb Sukhera termed the HEC directive illegal as it was “well beyond the mandate of the HEC as contained in S.10 of the HEC Ordinance”.

Lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed asked, “When idiocy is so completely pervasive and priorities so skewed, can we ever progress to being a normal country?”

Comedian Shafaat Ali pointed out that Holi was “purely this region’s, especially Multan’s, festival”. He further said that the festival could be made a source of religious tourism in Pakistan and could promote religious tolerance in society.