Alia Bhatt’s mother Soni calls bursting firecrackers ‘anti-national’:Says, ‘Pollution is harming children’s health’

Actress Alia Bhatt’s mother, Soni Razdan, has called bursting firecrackers on Diwali ‘anti-national’. In an Instagram post shared late on Tuesday night, she said that the practice puts people’s health and lives at risk. She said that young children are falling ill due to rising pollution and are unable to attend school. Soni also disabled the comment section on her post, apparently to avoid a possible controversy. Her remarks came after the Bombay High Court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to re-upload actor Dia Mirza’s video promoting a pollution-free Diwali. The video had earlier been removed from the civic body’s social media account following objections from a political leader. ‘Bursting even a single firecracker is anti-national and anti-life’ Soni Razdan wrote that only parents of young children know how much their children suffer because of air pollution and how many days of school they miss due to illness. She said that in such circumstances, if anyone says that bursting even a single firecracker on Diwali is acceptable, it seems anti-life, anti-health and anti-national. She appealed to people to choose the right option for their own health and that of their children. Controversy began after Dia Mirza’s video was removed The entire controversy began when the BMC deleted a video featuring Dia Mirza’s message about a pollution-free Diwali from its social media handles following an objection from the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, the BMC had retained the videos featuring Madhuri Dixit and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane. Dia Mirza had made this video at the court’s direction. After the video was removed, Dia Mirza had said that it had been made to raise public awareness and promote better health, as air pollution is a serious public health issue. Bombay High Court had reprimanded the BMC Following this, the court directed the BMC to re-upload Dia Mirza’s video. While reprimanding the BMC administration, the High Court had said that India is a secular country and that the issue of the environment concerns every citizen, regardless of their religion or caste. The court said that the civic body commissioner had made the right choice of artists to spread awareness and that removing such videos was inappropriate. Concern raised over children’s health and missing school In her post, Soni Razdan focused primarily on the serious impact of rising pollution on children’s health. She said that the festival of Diwali symbolises the triumph of light, knowledge and hope, but the harm caused by firecracker smoke puts children’s lives at risk. She stressed that breathing clean air is every child’s right and that citizens should avoid activities that harm the environment.