Durban – A prominent Durban lawyer, who is also a Hindu priest, on Thursday told the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) that the annual furore around Diwali fireworks was not racial, but reflected a lack of tolerance.
Ashwin Trikamjee was speaking at the Protea Hotel Edward in Durban on Thursday, where the commission was hosting a dialogue on the religious rights of communities.
The commission said it was important to hold the dialogue before Diwali because if the issue was not addressed, it could “lead to serious community conflicts and tensions”.
The Diwali celebration elicits a strong reaction around the country each year, as some animal owners, the elderly and mothers with new-born babies and young children complain about fireworks displays that are often accompanied by intermittent loud bangs.
Trikamjee said that prior to 1994, Guy Fawkes was celebrated “intensely” in South Africa in “white areas”, with no one complaining. The same could be said for New Year’s celebrations, which did not elicit as strong reactions from detractors as Diwali did.
It was post-1994, when citizens started assimilating and Indians started moving into traditionally white areas during the country’s democratic era, that “performances, tantrums and letters to newspapers started in which the Hindu community [and its religious leaders] was attacked for being disrespectful and not observing the law,” he said.
“It’s a perception, but [as a Hindu] you ask yourself, what’s wrong with these people, are they behaving racially? Is this a racial issue? My own gut feeling is that it is not, it is just a lack of tolerance based on a misunderstanding of somebody else’s culture,” said Trikamjee.
“Diwali is nothing when compared to New Year’s Eve, which is like a war zone in eThekwini,” he said. “The next day you expect the SPCA to tell you so many animals [were distressed] but you hear nothing."
Trikamjee said that according to research at his disposal, the sale of fireworks in South Africa between December 24 and December 31 was “six times higher” than during Diwali.
“When all of these things happen, we as Hindus think we are being discriminated against."
It was a constitutional right to light fireworks for Diwali, “however, we need to understand that with those rights comes responsibility," he said.
“One’s enjoyment of fireworks should not cause distress to elderly people, bring discomfort to animals or unnecessarily disturb the peace.”
Trikamjee said Hindu leaders had advocated for fireworks to be used during specific time periods and for a “banning of big bangs”, which he said had nothing to do with celebrating.
This was well-received, he said.
“Right now there is possible legislation waiting at parliament for the banning of big bangs.”
However, when later questioned by Democratic Alliance MP Haniff Hoosen on the “slippery slope” that accompanied banning of anything, Trikamjee said perhaps a better way of viewing the issue of “big bangs” was with regulation.
He said there had been a positive reaction since leaders in the Hindu community had taken a less “defensive” approach to being “attacked” over Diwali, by sending out flyers to urge adherents to exercise their rights but also acknowledge the rights of others.