New Delhi: The Urdu name of Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College’s annual Diwali Mela held Thursday triggered a controversy with right-wing supporters accusing the institution of “Islamising” a Hindu festival celebration.
LSR’s National Service Scheme (NSS) division has been organising the annual Diwali Mela, called ‘Noor’, for the past several years. The event features collaborations with various non-profits to promote awareness and community engagement.
The official theme this year was ‘Nazm-e-Bahar: An Ode to the Light Within’. According to a poster, this year’s mela aimed to highlight “small entrepreneurs and women-run enterprises”.
The theme, however, triggered much angst on social media, with many users urging LSR to replace the word ‘Noor’ with ‘Diwali’.
Three Karnataka-based activists also wrote to principal Suman Sharma Thursday, accusing the college of “completely omitting” the word Diwali from the event’s posters.
The email was written by former BJP Economic Cell member Simharana Sharva, an Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in-charge Vijay B.G., and a Vishwa Hindu Parishad functionary Rohith N.
It said: “The complete omission of the word Dipavali, which is universally recognised as the Festival of Lights, has sparked considerable confusion and discontent… Using the word ‘Noor’, which has connotations more closely aligned with other cultural traditions, only deepens the confusion. It raises questions about whether this event is indeed meant to celebrate Dipavali or if it is promoting another festival under the guise of ‘light’.”
Sharing a poster of the event, right-wing influencer Shefali Vaidya wrote on X, “So LSR sends out this #deepavali invite, deliberately and consciously avoiding the word #deepawali, and calling it Noor. Why don’t they change the name of the college as well? I mean why Sri (sic) Ram? Urduise that also, would be in keeping with ‘secularism’!”
So LSR sents out this #deepavali invite, deliberately and consciously avoiding the word #deepawali, and calling it Noor. Why don’t they change the name of college as well? I mean why Sri Ram?Urduise that also, would be in keeping with ‘secularism’! pic.twitter.com/IgZrpQnbYS
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) October 24, 2024
Some X users highlighted that the college last year themed the event ‘Jashne-e-Abha’, celebrating life.
“Yes this is Diwali celebration program of Lady Shri Ram College, DU. Did you find (the) Diwali word? Diwali has become Noor, celebration is called Nazm-E-Bahar. Last year they’d named it ‘Jashn-e-Abha’. First they tried to stop Hindus from celebrating it, when failed, started Islamising it,” wrote one.
ThePrint reached LSR’s principal Suman Sharma, and convenors Tripti Bassi and Shama Norein Major, for comment via calls and messages. This report will be updated if and when they respond.
However, several faculty members and students, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the criticism “unnecessary” and emphasised that ‘Noor’ has been the title of the annual Diwali event for the past many years.
‘Urdu beautiful, criticism unnecessary’
A student said they went with the theme ‘Nazme-e-Bahar’, because “Urdu words are beautiful and they convey what we meant”.
“Urdu is a Hindustani language. It originated in India. Urdu is so mixed up in our languages that it’s not even possible to remove Urdu completely,” she added.
Another student explained that the phrase ‘Diwali Mela’ was an umbrella term for the event whose main aim was to provide a platform for NGOs to display their products.
“Some of our performances are also related to Durga Puja. So, it’s not like we want to only celebrate Diwali. The timing was right to do it. We don’t have exams. The weather is good. Everyone is in a festive mood,” the student said.
Another said professors asked them to remove the ‘Nazm-e-Bahar’ posters. “But we decided not to remove the word ‘Noor’ since it is an important aspect of the college. We, the students of LSR, recognise this event by the name ‘Noor’ and not ‘Diwali Mela’,” she said.
A senior faculty member at the college said it was ridiculous that people should have a problem with using Urdu words. “Urdu is a language that originated in India, and is not spoken outside the Indian subcontinent. It has a large number of words from a whole variety of languages including Sanskrit, and shares grammar with many other languages, most importantly Hindi.”
“The differentiation in the script happened… and until the 19th century, when some people started this whole process of cultural unification… the languages started dissociating as part of their communalist agenda…” added the professor.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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What else can be expected from LSR faculty and students?
LSR is a haven for wokes of all kinds. And the professors are the ones responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Their only concern is to brainwash young minds and introduce them to the world of wokeness. The youth are used as fodder for all kinds of woke causes.
The defence put up by the faculty and students is an absolutely lame one. Totally pathetic.
Which idiot came up with the “bright” idea of naming the Diwali celebration as Noor? The idiot must be identified and brought before the public.
And as a corollary, would the college name the Eid celebrations as Bhakti?
This is what happens when colleges have too many woke professors amongst the faculty.