‘I Will Burst Crackers Only After I Finish My Puja’, BJP MP Says In Response To ‘8-10 PM SC Order’ 

After an order of the Supreme Court that allowed bursting of crackers on Diwali for only two hours between 8 pm and 10 pm, Member of Parliament of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chintamani Malviya has said that he will celebrate Diwali in a traditional manner and burst crackers ‘only after completing Laxmi Poojan’ at 10 pm.

Chintamani Malviya is MP of the ruling party from Ujjain Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh.

Malviya wrote in a Facebook post, “Main apni diwali apne paramparagat tarike se manaaunga aur raat mein lakshmi poojan ke baad 10 baje ke baad hi patakhe jalaaunga (I will celebrate Diwali as per the traditions and will burst crackers after 10 pm once I have completed the Lakshmi pooja).”

Malviya added that he will not tolerate any kind of interference in Hindu traditions and if he had to go to jail for following his religious traditions, he would be happy to do so.

Malviya, speaking to the press on the SC order, said the Hindu calendar determines our religious traditions and festivals and a time limit cannot be set on festivals.

He said that even Mughals did not impose such restrictions on Hindu festivals and that these restrictions are unacceptable.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (23 October) had declined to order a countrywide ban on crackers but set a time limit on bursting of crackers. The court had allowed bursting of crackers on Diwali from 8 pm to 10 pm and from 11.45 pm to 12.45 am on Christmas and New Year’s eve.