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| “Diwali fireworks and lighting celebrations India 2012” by UrbanUrban_ru – Flickr |
I am reading about fireworks free Diwali at Darbar Sahib from the past 2 years because of the growing levels of pollution in Amritsar city but have only seen rise in the use of them. Even if we ignore the part how polluted Amritsar city is, why do we have lighting and fireworks on various occasions throughout the year in first place? Why do Sikhs engage in these activities polluting environment and wasting energy? Perhaps we never understood what our religion taught us and therefore keep engaging in activities that do nothing but waste our time and money.
Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple for most non-Sikhs is nothing more than a tourist spot. We have failed to teach them and even ourselves about what Sikhism is and what is the importance of this place in our faith. With these displays of fireworks, we are ourselves pushing Darbar Sahib as a tourist place instead of a religious one.
Celebrating festivals by using lighting and bursting crackers and stopping to do so when protesting for a cause proves how we have becomes sheeps like everyone else. Sikhs are supposed to stand out and not be a part of the herd. We need to stop devoting our time to these worthless things and educate every Sikh about the essence of Sikhism and living our lives based on the teachings of our Gurus.
Did I mention that the topic of discussion here ‘Diwali’ is actually not a Sikh festival?
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