Actor Soni Razdan clarified her remarks after calling firecrackers anti-national sparked backlash. She said, "This is NOT about religion. It is about AIR." Soni explained that her post focused on pollution and children’s health rather than faith. She urged people not to twist her message about our collective responsibility.
A day after calling bursting fircrackers on Diwali 'anti-national', senior actor Soni Razdan clarified her remark in an X post after a section of the Internet users tried to 'twist' her version.
What triggered the conversation on X was Soni's use of the word 'anti-national'. Urging people not to distort a simple message about collective responsibility, Soni said her post is about contributing to the air pollution, which put people at large at health risk irrespective of their religious beliefs.
"Let me clarify something, since my use of the word anti-national seems to have caused so much confusion.
"Bursting crackers is not what makes you nationalistic. And choosing not to burst them is certainly not anti-national.
What I find deeply irresponsible, however, is knowingly contributing to the appalling air pollution that is making it increasingly difficult for people to breathe. If we are going to use the term anti-national, then surely putting the health of an entire community at risk for the sake of a few moments of personal pleasure is a far more relevant place to start," Soni wrote.
Brushing aside the controversy around religion, Soni Razdan said that she wanted to make a point as the children of our country are suffering.
"This is NOT about religion. It is about AIR. It is about children falling ill, missing school and struggling to breathe. It is about the health and wellbeing of every citizen of this country, irrespective of their religion, faith or beliefs.
"Please don't twist a simple message about collective responsibility into something it was never intended to be. Because these are your children too. They are everyone's children. And they deserve to breathe clean air. Surely that is something we can all agree on?" Soni signed off.
In her earlier post, Soni Razdan wrote, "Any parent of a young child will tell you how much their children are suffering because of air pollution. How many school days they miss because of illness. So if you tell me that, in such circumstances, it is perfectly alright to burst even one cracker this Diwali, I can only say that it seems to me to be anti-life, anti-health and yes... anti-national."
Soni Razdan's message comes days after Dia Mirza's awareness video was taken down by Mumbai civic body. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deleted the pollution-free Diwali video featuring her following an objection from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Emphasising the secular nature of the country, the Bombay High Court reprimanded the Mumbai Civic Body and said, "We have not seen any politician or any person who made remarks yesterday put up videos spreading awareness. We are a secular country. We are really hurt by this. The issue pertains to the environment and every person, irrespective of their religion and caste, is breathing the same air."
The court also ordered the civic body to re-upload Dia Mirza's deleted video.