Mumbai: Mayor Ritu Tawde on Monday lashed out at actor Dia Mirza over her participation in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) firecracker free Diwali campaign, saying she did not need to tell Hindus how to celebrate their festival. Tawde also reprimanded the BMC administration for including Mirza in the campaign, saying the decision was taken without consulting the civic body’s elected political leadership.
The video, featuring Mirza’s appeal to citizens not to burst firecrackers or contribute to air and noise pollution, was removed after BJP Mumbai president Ameet Satam objected to the actor’s participation in the anti-firecracker campaign. “We don’t need lessons on how to celebrate #Diwali from @deespeak. Our traditions are deeply rooted in our culture,” Satam wrote in a post on social media platform X, tagging the BMC. “Ameet Satamji is the Mumbai BJP president, and the BMC corporators are working under his guidance.
Tawde referred to Satam’s post and said it represented the position of all BJP corporators. Any tweet posted by Ameetji represents the views of all corporators,” she said.
Deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena questioned the objections to Mirza’s campaign video. He also criticised mayor Ritu Tawde’s remarks describing Mirza as anti-Hindu and her declaration about the actor being excluded from future civic campaigns.
“If anyone speaks against Hindutva, Hindus or Hindu culture, every BJP worker will take to the streets and give them a fitting response,” she said. He said the actor had done nothing wrong by urging citizens to refrain from bursting firecrackers and saw no reason for the removal of her video from the BMC portal. Azmi referred to the controversy as an instance of politicisation of public awareness campaigns, and said that environmental protection and public health should not be viewed through a religious or political lens.
