Thanks to the weak application of rules, breaking the law is a way of life for most of us. So the cracker ban failed
On Sunday evening, after a day when the dirt and pollution from thousands of spent firecrackers filled the air in the National Capital Region (NCR), the gods smiled down and made it rain. It wasn’t much but still enough to drive the dust away and make the air breathable again. There was a firecracker ban in place seeing how the air quality had been over the past month but many denizens ignored it. Some called them “suicide bombers” for adding to the pollution but many dubbed them as heroes for defying the ban and blowing crackers anyway. The latter group argued that firecrackers would not significantly add to pollution since farmers burning rice stubble on their fields were the primary culprits. Many of these people also attributed the rains to divine intervention.
Yes, burning firecrackers is a traditional way of celebrating Diwali but tradition should not become a victim to common sense. Firecrackers add noxious nitrogen oxides, sulphur and potassium into the atmosphere. A complete ban in Delhi and its surrounding areas, however, was not worth its weight on the paper it was signed on because it was going to be disobeyed any which way. Many took gleeful joy at their law-breaking. This should not come as any surprise to those in India, where thanks to the weak application of rules, civil disobedience is a way of life for most of us. You see it in the way we drive on our roads where rules are deemed optional and common sense vanishes in many. Helmet usage, something that enhances safety, is considered optional even though there are large fines. The lack of any fear of punishment and pliable fines for the privileged mean that inconveniences are marginal. What else can explain the continuing instances of extreme sexual violence even though in some cases the offender ought to be punishable by death? It may be for sociologists to come up with theories as to why this almost brazen attitude towards the law is so prevalent in India and other nations in the neighbourhood. Some might even attribute it to the movement for Independence, where casual law-breaking was almost encouraged and the volume of cases overwhelmed the authorities. It is not just about firecrackers here, it is about making citizens realise the importance of law and order. We cannot celebrate one instance of blaze law-breaking and decry the helplessness of authorities in another instance. In normal times, this would be impossible but we now have a leader who commands a mandate and respect among the population and the Bihar elections proved that. It is time that Narendra Modi stepped up to the plate and asked that his fellow Indians become better citizens. And initiated judicial and police reforms.