BHOPAL: Hours after the Supreme Court allowed bursting crackers only for two hours (8 pm to 10 pm) on Diwali, the ruling BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain Lok Sabha constituency Chintamani Malviya said on Tuesday he won’t tolerate any interference in Hindu traditions and was ready to happily to go to jail for furthering his religious traditions.
In a Facebook post, the BJP parliamentarian wrote in Hindi “Mai apni Diwali apne paramparagat tarike se manaoonga aur raat mein luxmi pujan ke baad 10 baje ke baad hi patakhe jalaoonga (I’ll celebrate my Diwali in the traditional manner and burst crackers after 10 pm, once I’ve completed the Luxmi Puja).”
Malviya added in the same post, “Humari Hindu parampara mein kisi ki bhi dakhalandaji mein hargiz bardasht nahi kar sakta. Meri dharmik paramparaon ke liye yadi mujhe jail bhi jaanaa pade toh mai khushi khushi jail bhi jaaoonga (I won’t tolerate any interference in Hindu traditions. Even if I have go to jail, I’ll happily go to jail for my religious tradition).
On Tuesday, the SC declined to order a country-wide ban of firecrackers, holding that compliance with certain safeguards will rather help strike a balance.
A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said "improved and green" crackers can be manufactured and sold only by the licensed holders. The court imposed a complete ban on the sale of firecrackers by e-commerce firms, including Amazon and Flipkart. It added that firecrackers will also have to comply with the prescribed noise levels and also barred the use of some chemicals, including barium salt, in the manufacturing.
The court clarified that on festivals, including Diwali, the bursting of firecrackers will be allowed only between 8 pm and 10 pm. On Christmas and New Year's Eve, the bench said, crackers can be burst between 11.45 pm and 12.45 am