To use a rugby metaphor, respected parliamentarian Narend Singh and the City of Cape Town have kicked for touch in the debate on fireworks. It is a safe position to pander to the court of public opinion.
It is far less popular to tell people uncomfortable truths. No one contests the arguments on freedom of religion.
Thanks to a visionary government and Constitution, South Africans enjoy unparalleled freedom of faith.
The uncomfortable truth is that our planet is in peril. In our daily behaviours, we are poisoning our air, our soil and our waters.
A billion Hindus adhering to a faith that has survived thousands of years can make a powerful statement by thinking and acting differently. It was only in the 9th century AD that the Chinese invented gunpowder.
When Ram married Sita, several millennia earlier, among his marriage vows was to protect the environment.
When he took her back from my royal ancestor, Ravana, their path home was lit by lights. The story of Deepavali has been told ever since as a festival of lights.
One fears that the filibuster of Hindu organisations serve only to demonstrate their irrelevance in the pressing issues facing our planet. It
is prudent to celebrate a Green Diwali.
When the rest of the world is moving in a positive direction, Hindus should not been seen to be pulling the other way.
Kiru Naidoo
Organising Committee of Green Diwali, Durban
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