Aam Aadmi Celebration (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday defended ban on firecrackers, saying it’s vital for safeguarding individuals from air pollution and there’s no ‘Hindu-Muslim’ angle to it.
Kejriwal mentioned Diwali is a competition of lights and it needs to be celebrated by lighting ‘diya’ and candles as an alternative of bursting firecrackers that trigger air pollution.
“It’s not that we’re doing any favour to others. We’re doing favour to ourselves as a result of in the end we and our small children will undergo from the air pollution triggered (by bursting crackers),” he mentioned in a press convention.
The Delhi authorities earlier this month notified a whole ban on the manufacture, sale, storage and bursting of every kind of firecrackers within the metropolis until January 1, 2025. The directive was issued by the Delhi Air pollution Management Committee (DPCC) below the Air (Prevention and Management of Air pollution) Act, 1981 and it additionally contains restrictions on on-line gross sales and deliveries.
The previous Delhi chief minister rejected criticism by the BJP and the RSS that the ban on firecrackers focused a Hindu competition.
“There’s nothing Hindu-Muslim in it. Everybody’s respiratory and life is important,” he mentioned.
Even the Supreme Court docket and Excessive Court docket have mentioned individuals ought to chorus from bursting crackers in view of the air pollution and light-weight ‘diyas’ (earthen lamps) as an alternative as a result of Diwali is a competition of lights, he added.
