To all my dear brothers and sisters : I was notified, sometime ago, that my previous status on “CRACKERS” had apparently created a controversy! “Some of my non-muslim brothers & sisters apparently, questioned how anyone could publicly insult other religions. And etc etc. What do they know about diwali? Its isn’t just fun and entertainment! , and the like!” Honestly, I FELT ALL DIZZY and QUEASY, after knowing this! GOSH! I had NEVER even INTENDED it to against a SPECIFIC FESTIVAL or RELIGION. Infact, I was addressing, my MUSLIM & NON-MUSLIM brothers & sisters ALIKE! That’s why I had even mentioned that I too, used to be fond of crackers before! And That’s EXACTLY why I had stated this at the end of my status : “[P.S. A Reminder to myself first, In shaa Allah!]” Honestly, I had no idea whatsoever that it all going to misinterpreted and misread. I thought that if I give a simple 6 points of why not buy & burst crackers – It will be to-the-point and an easy read! But, MY BAD! – APOLOGIES. Apparently, I should have given a more lengthy and detailed explanation! I also, took it for granted, that it was well-known that even Muslims (like myself) burst crackers! But, I didn’t know, that it wasn’t a very-well known fact, because of which, my status to some implicated that it was meant for the non-muslims exclusively! While, the status, had infact meant for people LIKE *ME* who have been/are very fond of crackers! [While all the 5 points, where for all the muslims & non-muslims, only the 6th point was Exclusive for The Muslims.] Hence, I think, that an EXPLANATION is needed to CLEAR THE AIR! (God willing!) FIRST and FOREMOST. By “FUN & ENTERTAINMENT” - I DID NOT Imply that a festival like “DIWALI” was just Fun & Entertainment!!! GOSH!!! HOW CAN I EVEN SAY THAT??? WHY WOULD I EVEN SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT PUBLICLY??? After all Diwali is The Festival of Lights, The Good against The Evil, isn’t it? (P.S. My own bestie is a Hindu and celebrates diwali sans (without) the crackers!) What, I was infact talking about was the *CRACKERS*! Crackers are Fun & Entertainment – Hypocritically and Ironically was what I was saying! WHY? Well, I’ll just come back to it in a bit! (God willing!) But before that, what I would like to speak about is, even how MUSLIMS burst CRACKERS. Yes, we do! (Knowingly or unknowingly of the repercussions) I used to! I used to burst them with my cousins, family & friends on EID-UL-FITR! (and sometimes, other days as well!) There quite many like me who do so too, you know! And not only in India, Even in countries like SAUDI ARABIA, for instance, crackers are burst! Infact, you’ll be amazed on HOW IT IS EVEN BIGGER THAN IN INDIA! On Eid-ul-Fitr, how the big metropolitan city of Damman (& even in Riyadh, etc.) COMPLETELY STOPS AT A STAND-STILL, The Traffic Stops and Everyone gazes at AWE at the EXTRA-ORDINARY DISPLAY OF FIRE-WORKS in the sky, visible over the ENTIRE STRETCH OF THE CITY, Sponsored by The Rulers there! The Amount of money spent on it too, is EXTRA-ORDINARY! And crackers are not just exclusive for festivals, they are used even in WEDDINGS and at the End of CRICKET MATCHES!!! So, when I intended to write about it, it wasn’t against a RELIGION at all! Infact, it just AGAINST a “MARKETABLE PRODUCT” – “CRACKERS” and just like people market products to show its benefits & sell it, I was “ANTI-MARKETING” it and Showing its HARM! And by the way, those points that I stated in the previous status, are not my own stated points. BUT ARE POINTS STATED BY MANY OTHER AWARENESS CAMPAIGNERS. Religion-no bar! And I was just doing my bit, to spread that awareness, just like they teach us in school to do! (God-Willing!) After all “Each drop of water makes an ocean.”! And about the timing- usually these awareness campaigns are done & spread in INDIA around The Diwali, since, statistically, maximum sales of these crackers take place during this time! But By The Mercy of God, a lot of awareness campaigns are being conducted in India, now, and the sales have gone down comparatively! (By the way, these campaigns are done mostly by Hindus, themselves, who ofcourse like my own best-friend Celebrate diwali, but cracker-free diwali, ofcourse, and using lamps, diyas,etc.) And amongst all the points that are harmful about the crackers, the one that STRIKES me most, and PULLS AT MY HEARTSTRINGS – is THE DANGEROUS CHILD-LABOUR! Imagine, even we have kids. We have once, been kids , ourselves. But these crackers that we enjoy bursting & our enjoying good times with are being made by these poor little kids, in REALLY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. Imagine, the glass (which injures them), chemicals (which harms them long-term) & explosives (that cause accidents & deaths) that are used in the making of these crackers! THE KIDS ARE FORCED TO HANDLE THEM IN THESE FACTORIES! Isn’t That A DARK CHILDHOOD??? (But there are many yet who don’t know about this and hence we need to create awareness – God Willing!) Now, THAT is what I meant, when I said that the “Fun & Entertainment” of the fire-crackers is IRONICAL & HYPOCRITICAL, since the cost that is being paid is the snatching of the RIGHT TO HAPPINESS & CHILDHOOD of these POOR CHILDREN! ( I was not speaking about any festival’s fun & entertainment...Pls, don’t misinterpret! (God-Willing)) I urge you to read this short – very – informative article, that has also got two short-really-good-video clips, depicting the Muslims & Non-Muslims together, and directed towards us all together & a CNN-IBN video respectively! Below is the link: jaagruti.org/tag/child-labour/ Also, there is a group page on fb, called “Say No to Crackers” (ofcourse, they are all too Diwali celebrating people but sans the crackers, because of its HORRIFIC reality!): Below is the link: https://facebook/groups/168137899878707/ & their respective short video-clip at you tube is : youtube/watch?v=TLOpQz-gev4 Ofcourse, everyone is entitle to their respective opinions. This time. Lets think afresh with a fresh mind! (God willing!) Just suppose, we all join hands together, and CREATE AWARENESS and SAY NO TO CRACKERS, then Imagine HOW MANY YOUNG LIVES WE MIGHT TAKE CARE OF AND SAVE! Its a Simple Step. Imagine, if we could join hands together, irrespective of our RELIGION, CASTE, AGE, GENDER, COLOUR, NATIONALITY, How Much can we not Do? After all, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS, aren’t we? *wink* *Smilezzz*
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 11:57:11 +0000