Gods banned from Diwali crackers

Virudhunagar: Labels with pictures of deities will henceforth not be used to wrap crackers on a directive from district authorities following charges by various outfits that the discarded pictures "hurt" the sentiments of people.

The District Revenue Officer has sent a circular to Tamil Nadu Fire Cracker Manufacturers Association (TNFCMA) not to use labels with the pictures of deities for wrapping crackers, an official press release said.

District Collector V Rajaraman said ABHMB's state unit had made a request to ban use of labels with pictures of deities as it had hurt the sentiments of a section of the people, it said.

Various Hindu outfits, including Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHMB) had earlier urged the authorities to enforce the ban as these wrappers were reportedly torn into pieces and thrown on roads. People walk on them and finally these are dumped in waste bins which was an act of "sacrilege", the group said.

Crackers with names of various Hindu deities have been in the market for more than two decades, besides pictures of several deities were used as wrappers for crackers.

G Abiruben, TNFCMA president told reporters that the cracker industry would strictly follow the instructions of the authorities and would not hurt the sentiments of any person.

He maintained that the pictures with deities were being used since 1924.