Every year, communities and villages are inundated with persons throwing fire crackers during Diwali and Christmas. For years prior to high police presence, it had almost become customary for the Alexander Village Mandir to come under attack from strangers, who seemed to have made it their task to make the lives of the villagers miserable each year on Diwali Day. In the past, persons had assembled in the village and lit squibs and other types of dangerous firecrackers, which were then tossed towards the mandir, disrupting activities and doing damage. Hopefully, as Diwali approaches, this is a thing of the past, and mandir members can now celebrate peacefully and without fear.
These little devices are no different from bombs. In the past, persons have paid the price for not heeding warnings to desist from playing with these explosives. Persons were left maimed, blind, and without limbs, among other irreparable harm, when the firecrackers exploded in their faces. Sadly, even toddlers and children have suffered severe burns from either playing with firecrackers or coming into contact with those that were lit by other persons. Yet, despite these many disasters, and in the face of repeated warnings, Guyanese still play with these explosives. Our Pet Care columnist, Dr Steve Surujbally, in one of his columns explaining the dangers these devices pose to animals, said, “…whether it is a firecracker or a squib, or any noise-making explosive, it hurts animals. Dogs and cats have sensitive ears. The noise from the explosions disorients and traumatises them. They don’t know what to do. They run indoors and try to hide in secluded places where they think there is security (bathrooms, under beds, in cupboards, etc). They hurt themselves. They run away from home. They jump off the verandah, break their legs or, worse, their necks, or damage their spinal cords, causing paralysis for life.”
A ban was imposed on all fireworks, and persons caught selling the device could face fines and jail time, as could persons caught playing with the items. Over the years the Police have been incredibly weak in clamping down on this practice and in preventing the banned products from entering into the country.
This year’s Diwali celebrations are just around the corner, and it hoped that the Hindu community is not again greeted by an overwhelming number of dangerous firecrackers popping around the country. Over the years, too many citizens had banned firecrackers in their possession on Diwali Day; and although the Alexander Village Mandir was spared the harassment for some time now, various communities were not so fortunate.
In the past, in some areas, young people assembled on the road, lit these explosives, and tossed them, being unconcerned about the dangers in which they were placing innocent people, and the damage they could have done. Motorists are often times aggravated about this.
The wide use of firecrackers during Diwali and Christmas suggests that the products are easily available on the market.
The Police could say that tracking down illegal products and finding every seller of banned firecrackers in every nook and cranny in the country is difficult, perhaps impossible, to do; but that is not what we had in mind. Our contention is that, when it comes to smuggling, law enforcers are still not on top of the situation. If they were, last year’s Diwali and Christmas celebrations would have been peaceful, or only a small number of firecrackers would have been set alight.
In previous years, when the Police targeted sellers of firecrackers in the lead-up to Diwali and Christmas celebrations, there was a major difference.
Playing with firecrackers is no longer fun. One of the major concerns about the practice is that citizens cannot distinguish between the sound of a firecracker popping and a gun being fired.
