Veteran actor Soni Razdan backed Dia Mirza after her Diwali awareness video triggered a political row. Her remarks renewed focus on children's health as the Bombay High Court ordered the clip's restoration.Soni Razdan (left) made a strong pitch in favour of Dia Mirza (right). (Credit: Instagram/@sonirazdan @diamirza) Actor Soni Razdan has said that bursting even one firecracker on Diwali appears to her to be “anti-life, anti-health and anti-national”, citing the effect of air pollution on children.
Her remarks appeared to take a dig at the controversy surrounding an eco-friendly Diwali campaign featuring actor Dia Mirza.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation removed Mirza’s awareness video after the Bharatiya Janata Party objected to it. The Bombay High Court later took suo motu note of the controversy and directed the civic body to restore the clip.In a post shared late on Tuesday night, the 70-year-old actor backed Mirza and urged people to choose health for themselves and their children.“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 (sic),” she wrote. “Health is a choice we make for ourselves and our children.
Let us make the right one (sic),” the Shaque actor added. She has disabled comments on the post.
Political row over Dia Mirza’s videoMirza’s video urging people to avoid noise and air pollution sparked a political row after Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam objected to it and Mayor Ritu Tawde described the actor as “anti-Hindu”. The BMC subsequently deleted the clip from its social media accounts.Campaign videos featuring actors Madhuri Dixit and Nishigandha Wad and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, however, remained on the BMC’s X and Instagram accounts.The Bombay High Court took suo motu note of the controversy and directed the BMC to re-upload Mirza’s video.
It also reminded the public that the Constitution expects all citizens to foster a secular spirit.A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale expressed “deep pain and displeasure” over the political objections. It said it was anguished by the “petty mindset” of some people, particularly elected representatives.The court said it was “most unfortunate” that a video intended to spread awareness about the environment and pollution had been viewed in such a manner.
It added that no person could question why the authorities had chosen a particular celebrity.- Ends