Sambhal’s Holi-Juma clash: Throwback to when Mughals played Holi here

India Today

In Sambhal, UP, mosques are being covered, security tightened — because Holi and Juma namaz fall on the same day. But history tells a different story.

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00:00A mosque draped in plastic sheets, tight security on the streets, drones scanning from above

00:10because on Friday, March 14, Holi and Jumma Namaz fell on the same day in Sambal, Uttar

00:15Pradesh.

00:16And even a single splash of colour could spark violence.

00:19But this is how the same place used to look back in the Mughal era.

00:23Holi used to be a celebration that transcended religious lines.

00:26The Mughals called it Eid-e-Gulabi or Aab-e-Pashi, a festival of floral showers and colours.

00:32Padmashree-awarded archaeologist KK Mohammad reminds us that even Emperor Akbar waited

00:37eagerly all year to collect the most exquisite pichkaris as recorded in the Ain-e-Akbari.

00:42Jahangir didn't just tolerate Holi, he played it himself, hosting Mhaifile Holi, grand gatherings

00:47where courtiers, Hindu and Muslim alike, smeared colours on each other.

00:51There are paintings of him and Noor Jahan drenched in red gulal celebrating with abandon.

00:57And even the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, allowed his Hindu ministers to

01:00put gulal on his forehead every Holi.

01:03It wasn't just the Mughals.

01:05The Nawabs of Awadh hosted grand Holi celebrations too, inviting poets and musicians to perform.

01:10Urdu poet Nazir Akbarabadi, a man deeply rooted in cultural pluralism, wrote Holi songs that

01:16were cheered by predominantly Muslim audiences.

01:19Mulana Hasrat Mohani, a freedom fighter and Krishna devotee, would play Holi and then

01:23offer Nawabs in his colour-drenched clothes, unfazed because the colours never invalidated

01:28his bazoos.

01:29But today, Sambal is preparing for a different kind of Holi.

01:32Mosques are being covered, not for celebration, but out of fear.

01:36Religious leaders are advising people to delay Jumma prayers or even skip the congregation

01:41altogether and pray at home.

01:42In a normal world, what could be more beautiful than a festival spilling over onto a neighbour?

01:47And what could be sadder than if the same act became a provocation for conflict?

01:52This isn't about Holi vs Jumma.

01:53It's about whether we can celebrate our diversity without fear.

01:57The past tells us one thing, we have celebrated together before.

02:01The question is, can we still?

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