Deepavali: let's celebrate the significance of light
Crackers have made a lot of noise in the supreme court as the festival of lights came close. Supreme Court has taken a tough stance against crackers this time. It has banned full time bursting of crackers by putting a time cap on this. And in cities like Delhi, crackers are totally banned. Air pollution in Delhi has reached alarming levels. Crackers have contributed to rising levels of air and noise pollution in the country per se. No sooner did the SC give it's verdict on this issue based on environmental concerns, Sangh Parivar and some political parties are making sounds louder than the crackers. They are deeming this as an attack on hindu dharma! They are carrying a message to people that there is a close link between crackers and festivals. Indian festivals share close bonds with nature and its cycles. Common people have been responding to the changing rhythms of nature by celebrating festivals. Agriculture is the main focus behind these festivals and they are celebrated accordingly.
Festivals are about worshipping air, water, river, soil, land, agriculture and basically everything that keeps the life going. With the interference of vaidika approach, these simple celebrations turned into traditions and turned against the spirit of nature. Let's take the case of rivers and lakes. They are the lifeline of the agrarian class. Hence they called them as mothers and goddesses. But the priestly class turned folklore into traditions. There is a difference between agraians calling the water bodies as gods and priestly class's inference as thus. Priests linked mythological stories to rivers such as Ganga and called her a goddess. They made people believe the dead would attain salvation of their bodies were disposed off in river Ganga. As a result of that, Ganga river is so polluted today that even if one spends thousands of crores the river cannot be cleaned up. The water cannot be consumed. Chauti is a festival celebrated by agrarian community who'd put together all the crop they had grown into the shape of Ganesha and worship it before it was consumed. This was their way of respecting the nature and expressing their gratitude for her gift of bounty.
Ganeshotsava today has been hugely politicised. It is now a public festival. Just one look at our lakes and rivers after Ganeshotsava can reveal where the celebrations have landed us. In the past, festivals taught us to respect the nature and be grateful for what we have received from her. But today, the same festivals are pushing us to abuse the nature. If authorities tell people not to immerse the idols in lakes, politicians instigate people telling them this is an assault on their religious freedom. They hide the fact that protecting and respecting water bodies is very much part of Indian tradition as much as celebrating a festival is. The name Deepavali itself is self descriptive. The festival is about celebrating the light and not the cantankerous sound. Mythology yields to Deepavali celebrated by the priestly class. But the folklore has different tradition to its rendering of the festival. Their festival does not come from mythology but from agriculture. They worship the harvest by placing lit lamps before them. This is the time when darkness has to end in the celebration of light. Prosperity enters home as a rich harvest.
The small live lamps heighten the spirit of Deepavali. Crackers only make noise. Much like our politicians and religious leaders’ speeches. Sound cannot eradicate the darkness inside our souls. It burns to make loud noises. That brightness never lasts long. After a cracker has died, the things that remain are darkness, dust and bad smell. None of them represent the Deepavali that we know, instead they represent whatever the festival seems to abhorr. For the same reason, it is important to light lamps than burst crackers on the occasion. That is like upholding the spirit of the festival.
There is also a practice of welcoming the prosperity and fruits of labour by lighting lamps. But when we burst crackers, we'd be reducing the prosperity to dust. Instead of sharing our richness with the poor in our neighborhood, we would be reducing money to nothing but ashes. We would be insulting goddess of wealth by doing this. And in the meantime, we'd also be polluting water, air and the environment around us. More than 200 children lose eyesight every year in our state alone, owing to crackers. Our festivals should end the darkness and fill our hearts with light. But owing to crackers, a lot of lives are being filled with permanent darkness. No one can blame the festival for this darkness that affects their lives forever. It has turned into a curse because we have chosen crackers over lamps.
Manufacturing crackers is a big business and a mega industry. People who make explosives are also part of this business. Miscreants are very much part of this racket. Which is why politicians and miscreants need these explosive manufacturing facilities to remain in existence. They need the front of Deepavali to run their businesses. This is exactly why we need to understand the spirit of the decision given by the Supreme Court and celebrate Deepavali more meaningfully to brighten up our homes and hearts.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
PM must explain why his govt scrapped Backward Region Grant Fund: Congress
New Delhi(PTI): The Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP for "scrapping" the Backward Region Grant Fund in 2015 and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain why his government "callously" did away with the "forward-thinking" scheme of the UPA.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
"Why has the Modi Sarkar scrapped the Backward Regions Grant Fund? Why has the BJP neglected UP's mentha farmers? Why has CM Yogi repeatedly lied about reopening the Budhwal Sugar Mill?" Ramesh said.
Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", the Congress leader said the Backward Region Grant Fund, aimed at uplifting the backward districts of India, was "callously scrapped" by the Modi government in 2015.
"This forward-thinking scheme was established by the UPA government in 2006 and by 2013, Uttar Pradesh's backward districts had received benefits worth Rs 4000 crore from it," he said.
Ramesh pointed out that in 2015, the Modi government discontinued separate budgetary allocations for this scheme, transferring it to states and slashing annual funding to the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) from Rs 1,006 crore to just Rs 60 crore.
"This came as a significant blow to districts like Fatehpur that received crucial development funds from the scheme. Can the outgoing PM explain why his government so callously scrapped the Backward Region Grant Fund?" Ramesh said in a post on X.
Pointing out that India is the world's largest producer and exporter of mentha oil and UP alone accounts for 90 per cent of India's total production, Ramesh claimed that the mentha oil industry is now reeling from convoluted tax classifications, high GST, and general government neglect.
"Instead of trying to support farmers and processors, the government is trying to extract maximum revenue from the industry. First, the government follows a dual policy for mentha - it is classified as an industrial product under GST, but it is classified as agricultural produce when it comes to the Mandi Tax," he said.
This enables double taxation - GST as an industrial product, Mandi Tax as an agricultural product, Ramesh said.
"Farmers already have to pay the 12% GST on mentha oil sales, and under the new Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM), RCM is levied on purchase. Mentha oil processors are forced to take on the tax liability when purchasing mentha oil from farmers and therefore take on dual tax liability," he said.
Finally, despite mentha being an entirely export-oriented product, the government provides no incentives to boost production, processing, or export, Ramesh claimed.
Why have the outgoing PM and the BJP neglected such an important Indian export, he asked.
"Even after repeated promises from PM Modi and CM Yogi, the Budhwal Sugar Mill remains inactive," he said.
"The PM first promised to revive all of UP's inactive sugar mills in 2014.Then in 2017, before assembly elections, Yogi Adityanath said that the mill would be revived if the BJP formed the government. The BJP won and formed the government but the mill remained inactive," Ramesh said.
Again, in 2022, CM Yogi Adityanath promised to restart the mill and even approved a supplementary budget of Rs 50 crore for the project, he said.
"The government also began to acquire land near the mill, raising hopes of its revival. However, months have now passed and no construction work has been initiated. After all of the BJP's promises, can the outgoing PM explain why the Budhwal Sugar Mill still remains inactive?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.
