Bengal: TMC govt 'bans' Holi in Shantiniketan’s Sonajhuri Haat; BJP slams move
Forest Minister Birbaha Hansda has denied any restriction on playing Holi at Sonajhuri and accused the BJP of trying to politicise the matter
The TMC government in West Bengal has reportedly banned Holi celebrations at the popular Sonajhuri Haat in Birbhum district’s Santiniketan this year, citing possible damage to the greeneries in the forest belt.
This move to restrict celebrations with colours at the iconic artisan fair in Shantiniketan, the abode of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, has triggered a political controversy in the state ahead of Holi. The Sonajhuri Haat is located near Visva Bharati's Santiniketan campus, a UNESCO heritage site.
“Reserved forest area: Playing with colours, car parking, videography and drone camera usage are prohibited,” reads the poster in Bengali.
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UNESCO heritage site
Bolpur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rahul Kumar said several banners have been put up in the area, requesting people – a large number of whom could be foreigners and domestic tourists – neither to park vehicles nor celebrate the festival of colours there.
Visitors were also requested not to videograph Holi festivities, he said. “The department will seek support of police and administration to enforce the ban but will also leave it to people for the better sense to prevail,” Kumar told PTI.
About the ban on celebrating the Holi festival in the forested Sonajhuri area, the DFO said, “We are not issuing any diktat and people in large groups will be prevented from walking to the Sonajhuri Khowai belt on March 14 - the day of Dol Yatra. The sprinkling of coloured water may cause irreparable damage to trees. Let us take the pledge to save Sonajhuri from any ecological damage on March 14,” the DFO said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Visva Bharati, a central university, said the varsity authorities cannot open the campus area for lakhs of people on Holi, keeping in mind the UNESCO heritage status. “Opening it up for all would mean accommodating more than 5,00,000 people within the ashrama, which Visva Bharati cannot manage in terms of infrastructure and logistics,” he told PTI.
BJP slams TMC for ‘appeasement’
On the other hand, the BJP has accused the ruling TMC of imposing a ban on Holi celebrations at Sonajhuri Haat, but the Mamata Banerjee government has claimed that the intention was only to preserve greenery.
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Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, claimed it is not a one-off incident and accused the Bengal government of appeasement.
“In 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every police station for Holi. This is a special month (Ramzan) for another community and Holi falls on a Friday this time. The police have openly declared Holi should not be celebrated and even threatened arrests,” alleged Adhikari, a former aide of Mamata Banerjee.
Bengal Forest Minister Birbaha Hansda has denied any restriction on playing Holi at Sonajhuri and accused the BJP of trying to politicise the matter. “This is merely a request to preserve the nature. There is no restriction. If anyone wants to play Holi, they can. The BJP has no other issue to do politics that's why they are doing this,” said the minister.