this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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Hindus announcing to the world that their festival is here with firecrackers while disregarding the fact that they are literally killing people (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by sonofearth@lemmy.world to c/atheism@lemmy.world
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Tomorrow it will be even worse — usually 250+ AQI. Still, this region has good airflow compared to the northern parts of India which literally go past the maximum reading on the scales — not great, not terrible — which is a result of after harvest stubble burning, firecrackers, cold weather and the entire northern region’s airflow blocked by the Himalayas.

The so called Hindus will literally call you out for being “weak” instead of deciding to not waste their money on the crackers and killing people. Delhi’s chief minister (who can’t even sign a piece of document) said that Diwali is incomplete without firecrackers before lifting the prevention measures from the previous government— which was also a failure.

Firecrackers were never even part of Diwali. The festival was about getting together, share gifts and sweets. But these radical Hindus don’t give a shit.

Update: Our Prime Minister with Delhi's Chief Minister with air purifier while they encourage people to burst more crackers.

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[–] paultimate14@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe this is just me, but when it comes to air quality concerned I'm much more worried about the industrial factories in my area, the people burning gasoline for their cars and lawn tools, the bits of rubber coming off the tires, etc. I used to live closer I an airport, where the noise and air quality from the planes made life even worse.

Fireworks are such a minor contributint factor that I have a really hard time caring. Sure the sound is annoying, whether that's for a religious reason or a baseball game or the annual celebration of US imperialism.

It's worth remembering that BP themselves were the ones who made up the concept of a "carbon footprint" because it helped shift the blame from fossil capital to individuals. I think it's important not to get distracted by these highly visible but ultimately insignificant contributions to air pollution.

[–] sonofearth@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You're absolutely right that most year-round pollution comes from industrial activity and vehicles — and that companies have deflected responsibility by promoting ideas like carbon offsets, shifting the burden onto consumers.

But in India, the situation is more layered. Our cities already average AQI levels between 60–80 annually, which is poor by all global standards. During Diwali, even relatively cleaner cities see AQI levels spike above 200 — sometimes overnight. That kind of surge can't be explained just by traffic and factories. it shows that firecrackers, while seasonal, are not a minor factor by any sense.

What makes things worse is that regulation around firecrackers is weak, and there's little transparency about what chemicals are actually being burned. Plus, the political economy plays a big role: many local leaders have financial ties to the firecracker industry and thus banning fireworks is resisted by the industry under the pretext of protecting jobs.

In contrast to Western countries, where corporations spend billions on lobbying, in India, political power and business are often directly entangled. Corruption isn’t just top-down but it operates at every level, from bureaucrats to local politicians. So blaming the corporations is just pointing fingers to the creamy layer of the country’s corruption problems while ignoring the fact that the entire tree is rotten.

[–] And009@lemmynsfw.com -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's just 2 days, is the AQI any better rest of the year?

Quit whining.

[–] sonofearth@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Diwali is for a week where the effects are at their peak. But firecrackers are used pretty much for any event in this country. And given the fact this industry is unregulated, you don’t even know what you’re breathing. If you’re from a western city — where AQIs are below 50, you would be too privileged to say “quit whining”

[–] And009@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 1 month ago

I lived in Delhi when the AQI was 3000 after Diwali and remained over 300 for rest of the winter. It's bad through and though, there's neither respite nor a religious cause of pollution during those times.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This sounds a lot like the, uh, friendly and polite discussion we have in Germany every year around New Year's where people insist on their traditional, if not God-given, right to burn their money in the sky, traumatise pets, cause numerous burn injuries and extra work for medical workers, and leave the remains to pollute public spaces. At least it's not based on any religious notions (anymore). People like their pretty lights.

But although it does have measurable impact on local air quality, that effect only lasts maybe a day, afaik. So while I see parallels in the discussion, your situation does sound worse.

[–] sonofearth@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

We don’t have any implementation of the on-paper regulations. Too put it lightly — we don’t know what we are even breathing during this peek period.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Fireworks are banned in my city but last night was like New Year’s Eve. The noise is one thing, the pollution is another scale entirely.

[–] sonofearth@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

In India it is pretty much a daily affair: Won a cricket match? Burst a few crackers. MLA/MP got elected? Burst crackers. A toddler’s first birthday? Burst Crackers. Bhai’s (some random popular goon) Birthday? Burst crackers. A military operation against an enemy nation? Burst Crackers. Cleared an Exam? Burst Crackers. Got a government job? Burst Crackers. The list is endless.

Diwali takes it to a whole another level where literally every corner of human settlement in the country is bursting crackers.