Islamist organisation Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat has put up posters across TN asking people to not burst crackers as it is against Islam. The posters advise people to not “burn” money by burning crackers. Muslims have shared the posters in social media asking fellow Muslims to talk their Hindu friends out of bursting crackers on Diwali.
Towheed Jamaat, a prominent Islamist organisation in TN has stuck wall posters across the state asking people to not burst crackers. The posters read,
“Don’t bring destruction to you on your own! Do good! Allah likes those who do good! Those who waste things are the siblings of Shaitan! Shaitan is ungrateful to Allah! Say no to Crackers”
Avoid crackers that bring harm to money, environment and the humanity”
“Do not waste money unnecessarily! Say no to Crackers”
“Dear Muslims! Do not burst crackers! Do not burn(waste) your money!”
While some posters specifically ask Muslims to not burst crackers, many advise everyone in general advising them not to waste money. Muslims share these posters in social media and write demonising the tradition of bursting crackers. One of them wrote, “it is necessary for us to advise our Hindu friends of the ills of burning crackers. On each Diwali children affected by asthma, wheezing and other respiratory diseases are hospitalized in a large number. For the asthmatic adults this time makes it worse” in Facebook.
He further wrote on the same lines of the fake environment activists’ agenda, “Crackers pollute not only our environment but our respiratory organs as well and damage them. We do two sins by bursting crackers. One is destroying oneself and the other is destroying the lives of others. Bursting crackers leads one to do both these sins”.
Towheed Jamaat and other Islamist organisations have been campaigning against crackers for a longtime and the above post itself is from last year. The unfortunate recent fire accident in a cracker shop in Kallakurichi has fuelled this narrative of both Christians and Muslims. 7 people lost their lives in the accident and the owner of the shop appears to be a functionary of BJP.
Muslim organisations have started campaigning against crackers more brazenly after this accident as some of the victims were Muslims. They allege that the shop owner had violated many rules and stocked up crackers illegally. However the owner has alleged that it was from the neighbouring bakery the fire spread and the fire engine didn’t have enough water leading to the loss of many lives.
While it is necessary that safety measures must be followed while manufacturing, storing and selling inflammable things like firecrackers, citing the unfortunate accidents to seek a ban on crackers is nothing but contempt for Hindu customs and practices. Chrisitians and other anti-Hindus also have latched onto this opportunity to demonise the tradition of bursting firecrackers.
Some accused the cracker industry of exploiting poor people by debt trapping them and not caring for their safety. Urban Naxal Indra Jaisingh had tweeted that “fireworks are made by child labour” which also seems to have fuelled the anti-cracker campaign. The most unfortunate thing is governments across states buying it and banning crackers putting the lives of countless people at jeopardy.
Accidents happen everywhere. But vehicles, fuels, etc are not banned because they cause pollution and accidents. Instead safety measures are introduced to make them more safe. Similarly the cracker industry, which is indigenous to Bharat, must be standardised with safety measures being strictly implemented.
