Farah Khan's remark on Holi festival sparks outrage among netizens

Celebrity MasterChef judge and Bollywood director-choreographer Farah Khan drew flak for saying that Holi is most loved by all 'chhapri' boys.

The famous Bollywood choreographer's observation that “Sare chhapri ladkon ka pasandeeda festival Holi hota hai” has sparked off a backlash from several netizens, who took to social media to lambast her for insulting the Holi festival.

However, many social media users - particularly women - took to social media to defend her statement.

The word ‘chhapri’ is a casteist slur that is also classist, and has been used against people who are perceived as flashy or lacking sophistication. It is used to invoke criticism about someone’s behaviour or choices and to highlight the inferiority of the person being insulted.

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Netizens’ outrage

Some netizens believed that her comments were derogatory towards Hindus.

One netizen questioned why celebrities like Farah feel comfortable insulting Hindu festivals and not the festivals of other religions. Another netizen accused her of inciting religious dissent and promoting negative sentiments towards Hindu festivals like Holi.

Other netizens pointed out that Holi is a sacred festival where Hindu Gods like Krishna and his wife, Radha, play. They told Farah to have some shame for being disrespectful to Indian festivals while living in India.

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Hindu women defend Farah’s statement

Many Hindu women jumped to Farah's defence supporting her statement and sharing their experiences of being harassed and manhandled during Holi festivals. They highlighted the number of incidents of harassment reported during the festival.

“As a female and a devout Hindu, I want to side with Farah. We all know that one woman who faced this on Holi. Hindu-Muslim ki baat nahi hai, women security ki baat hai. Understand the difference please,” said a netizen, who flagged Farah's statement as a gender issue and not a religious issue.

“Farah Khan said that Holi is the ‘favourite’ festival of chhapris. She didn’t say Holi is the festival of chappris. She said nothing wrong,” said a netizen. This netizen then also posed a question to fellow netizens asking them as to who plays Holi like ‘uncultured hooligans’ where the men in question rip clothes from each other’s bodies.

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Don't be offended, it's Holi

Many women also brought up the catchphrase ‘bura na mano holi hai’, which translates to, ‘don’t be offended, it’s Holi’, which is often used by men as a caveat to escape being held accountable for harassing women on Holi with their unwanted advances.

Another netizen said, “I think you are misinterpreting it, boys play Holi very freely that's why she is calling them Chapri because there is no one to stop them.”

'Chhapri’ comes from

'Chhapri' comes from the Marathi, Kannada and Hindi word ‘chappar’ meaning ‘roof’ and can be traced back to a caste-group, the Chapparbands. Currently, the Chapparbands are classified under the denotified tribes, but were criminalised by the British through the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.

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Farah has not responded to the raging controversy as yet, and is currently appearing on Celebrity MasterChef with judges Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar.