“If I don’t celebrate Onam, they will decrease my academic score, force me out of many school activities and corner me. They have been insulting me constantly saying that I am a religious extremist and a terrorist for not celebrating a festival that has got nothing to do with my Deen.”
- A Muslim student in Kerala.
This is what’s happening inside our classrooms and campuses. Many Muslim students, both in schools and colleges, are being pushed, mocked, threatened. Celebrate Onam, or face punishment. Smile and play along, or be cornered and insulted. Refuse, and you are branded a terrorist.
Let’s stop hiding behind slogans. Onam is not “just culture.” It is a Hindu festival, rooted in the story of King Mahabali and Vamana. For Muslims, celebrating it is haram. It has nothing to do with Islam. The entire festival has deeper mythological connotations that go against the very epistemology of Islam. Forcing Muslim students to celebrate is not about “unity.” It is about breaking their faith, making them bow to pressure, pushing them to betray Allah.
The Constitution of India itself says in Article 25: “All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.” If this is true, then why are Muslim students in Kerala being humiliated for simply saying no? Why are teachers threatening to cut marks? Why are classmates labeling them extremists? Where is this freedom when a student has to choose between her deen and her education?
What is happening is not celebration. It is oppression. It is socio-psychological violence. A teenager forced to dance in an Onam skit with tears hidden behind a smile. A college student warned that his grades will drop if he doesn’t play along. Many Muslim youth insulted, cornered, made to feel like outsiders. The wounds don’t show, but they are real: depression, anger, humiliation, bitterness.
And the ones doing this? Teachers. The very people who should protect, guide, and nurture. A teacher who humiliates a student for practicing their faith is not a teacher. A college that pressures students to abandon their religion is not a place of education. It is hypocrisy in the name of “culture.”
This is bigger than Onam. This is about whether Muslim students in India are allowed to live as Muslims without fear. If they can’t refuse a Hindu festival without being punished, then what freedom is left? What secularism are they boasting about?
The girl who said, “They call me a terrorist for not celebrating Onam” spoke the truth of thousands. And her question hangs heavy on all of us: will we stay silent while their faith is crushed in classrooms, or will we finally stand up and say enough?
Exactly.. If we don't participate in this so called national celebration filled with shirk and kufr we will be labelled as the extremists.. And the sad thing is the muslim named students are the one who labell this and they are organizing this as like a jaahil.. 💯💯 so many students are escaping from u cities to home in these onam days to avoid this celebration, bcs if they stayed there withnotparticipating this.. They will be labelled as extremists and comnunalists🫠
Thank you for your eye opening article. The voice of believers must come out against this oppression. the last day, My son was asked to participate and collect money too for it even he is in reputed private training institute in Kerala, but he asked to be away this matter due to his faith in Touheed. they say nothing(Al hamdulillah). but the teacher asked him that do you forced by parent to be absent? he said "no but my own choice"