The Supreme Court said its order of last November banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) will continue till October 31. A bench said the apex court’s September 12 order temporarily lifting the stay and permitting sale of firecrackers would be effective from November 1.The top court, through the 2016 order, had suspended all licences which “permit sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR”.
From an author, to a columnist to a reality show judge, to now a joke on social media, Chetan Bhagat has come a full circle with his mediocrity. He does not approve the Apex Court’s order of banning firecrackers in Delhi-NCR this Diwali. Bhagat, it seems, feels that the ban on the sale of firecrackers is unnecessary and says that traditions call for the celebration of Diwali with the bursting of firecrackers.
SC bans fireworks on Diwali? A full ban? What’s Diwali for children without crackers?
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) October 9, 2017
He made the situation worst for himself by continuing the embarrassingly ignorant message with even more stupid fodder. He commented that if crackers were banned in Diwali, the same should hold for goat sacrifice and Muharram bloodshed.
Even if we excuse his social-media attention seeking rant, there are others who jump into the dialogue as being environment friendly has surely become a cool fashion statement.
Shashi Tharoor, too, responded to his question that shouldn’t there be a ban on “goat sacrifice and Muharram bloodshed”, by saying that firecrackers are just “unholy add-ons”.
Can I just ask on cracker ban. Why only guts to do this for Hindu festivals? Banning goat sacrifice and Muharram bloodshed soon too?
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) October 9, 2017
Virendra Sehwag too came out against the ban by asking people to retweet his Tweet if they would celebrate Diwali with extra ‘dhoom and dham’.Filmmaker and writer Vivek Agnihotri said that the verdict of the top court does not make a difference, citing examples of judgement against Azan and highway liquor ban. He said the verdict is a result of misconceived notion of history through school text books.
The twitterati wants to make some noise this Diwali. They say that there are better ways to save the environment than banning firecrackers. But one wonders, should not we be taking small steps, one at a time, to save the environment. If your pet could speak, it would complain the most about the disturbing noises that crackers make.
Diwali is a celebration of spreading joy. Is there a point in feeding your enemy neighbour’s economy and polluting your own environment for a few seconds of harsh noise? And a serious economic and environmental debate is reduced to trending tweets when the ignorant join it.
