Screengrab of the Holi celebration at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad that had prompted the original notification
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Thursday withdrew a notification it had issued earlier this week in which it had appeared to direct varsities to implement a ban on activities “incompatible with the country’s identity and societal values” while referring to the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi at a university in Islamabad.
Following outrage on social media—as well as mainstream media—over the apparent propagating of religious intolerance, HEC Executive Director Shahista Sohail sought to clarify that the commission is “highly respectful of all religions, faiths and beliefs, and the associated festivals and celebrations observed in the country.” Sohail, who had also penned the original notification, further said that it was “in no way intended to hurt the sentiments of any individual or group.”
Maintaining that the impression of the HEC banning celebrations of any festivities was “out of context to the spirit of the communication made,” it claimed the notification had only sought to emphasize upon higher education institutions that they should focus on the core reason of their existence, i.e. “academic excellence, research quality and harnessing the talent of the youth toward a structured, disciplined, and responsible citizen as per the nation’s ideology.”
As a consequence of this “misinterpretation,” read the new notification, the HEC was withdrawing the original communication.
Addressing the National Assembly on the controversy, Federal Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain confirmed that the original communication had been withdrawn. “I have told the HEC that it should not comment on such topics. Its purpose is quality of education; regulation [of higher education institutions],” he said, adding it should act solely in accordance with its mandate under law.
“These [celebration of events] are an administrative matter,” he said, adding that the HEC had no right to censure vice-chancellors on events that had been organized in their varsities. “I want to assure our Hindu brothers—as well as all of Pakistan—that every person here has the freedom to profess their belief,” he said. “This is their right under law,” he continued, adding the government stands with them.
The controversial notification had gone viral on social media on Wednesday, attracting severe criticism from Pakistani citizens, who had questioned how students at a single varsity celebrating Holi was cause for “concern.” Referring to the language of the letter, they lamented that it sought to ‘other’ the Hindu minority, rubbishing its own claims of seeking an “inclusive and tolerant” society.