Chetan Bhagat Wants Diwali Firecrackers. Trolled For Tweets On Court Ban

New Delhi: Writer Chetan Bhagat has provoked strong reactions with a series of tweets objecting to the Supreme Court's ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and its neighbourhood this Diwali. "A full ban? What's Diwali for children without crackers?" he wrote in his first reaction to the court ruling.

His next few tweets became steadily controversial as he commented that if crackers were banned in Diwali, the same should hold for "goat sacrifice and Muharram bloodshed".Responding to a petition citing deadly pollution in Delhi peaking during Diwali, the Supreme Court yesterday banned the sale of firecrackers till November 1, saying it wants to assess the impact on the air quality. The court said those who had firecrackers can still burst them on October 19, when millions will celebrate the festival of lights by bursting crackers and lighting lamps.

Chetan Bhagat's outrage lent itself to multiple angry posts that drew a mix of condemnation and approval.

"I want to see people who fight to remove crackers for Diwali show the same passion in reforming other festivals full of blood and gore," tweeted the author.Soldiering on despite flak, Chetan Bhagat insisted that a ban was not the solution. "So you are going to decide for everyone? Ban whatever doesn't suit your style?

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"It is one day of the year. Our biggest festival. Uber has saved pollution more than any ban would. Come up with innovations. Not bans," he wrote.

Each year, Diwali festivities leave the air in Delhi thick with toxic smog and suspended particles, and residents complaining of breathlessness and lung difficulties.

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Last Diwali, the pollution in Delhi was said to be dangerous and the worst in 10 years. After the festival, the Supreme Court, responding to a petition by three children aged between six years and 14 months, banned the sale of crackers. The ban was paused when cracker manufacturers said it would impact earnings. But the children went to the court again asking that the ban be restored.