What makes people get pleasure in breaking the rules, asks IPS officer D Roopa
D Roopa Moudgil, IGP and Home Secretary, Government of Karnataka, is clearly more than just her uniform. She is passionate about broader issues like the environment and the need for discipline in the interest of society as a whole. Her Facebook post on the occasion of Deepavali, lightly edited and a tad abridged, follows.
BENGALURU:
Some people have a problem with the ban on fire crackers. And they are going on and on bursting crackers. BBMP officials/police/other enforcement authorities can’t be present on every street to enforce the ban. When an order is passed by the government, we expect people to obey it in letter and spirit.
The ban on crackers in Bengaluru is for this year alone, given the Covid situation. Why can’t we for one year abstain from the use of crackers? Are we so hollow that our joy is only in crackers?
There are many ways to celebrate Deepavali. Light diyas, meet people, exchange mithai…but no, adamant people only want crackers. How unreasonable!
There are scientific observations that Delhi and Bengaluru are and will be the worst hit whenever there’s smoke and smog , both being landlocked unlike Mumbai and Chennai where the sea breeze carries away much of the smoke and polluted air.
https://t.co/WmGb416WEI
— D Roopa IPS (@D_Roopa_IPS) November 14, 2020
My contemplative piece on crackers, the govt ban and people's behaviour
And for those who cry victim that this is done (only) to Hindus, well, crackers were not there during the early and later Vedic age. There’s no mention of crackers in our epics and puranas. Crackers came into this country with the Europeans. It is no core tradition or custom related to Hinduism. And one person asked me, is it true that the majority of people who manufacture crackers are Muslims? Well, I remained silent, just focusing on what makes people get a distasteful pleasure in violating rules.
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