The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Bhainsa in no mood to celebrate Deepavali

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Sunday, Oct 26, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Bhainsa in no mood to celebrate Deepavali

S. Harpal Singh

- Photo: G. SANJEEV REDDY

Low key: Firecracker shops may not be set up in Bhainsa this Deepavali.

ADILABAD: The recent communal riots look like casting a shadow on Deepavali celebrations at Bhainsa in Adilabad district. Neither the reverberation of firecrackers nor the luminescence of the Deepavali lamps and lights will be witnessed as citizens seem to prefer solitude in view of the prevailing situation.

There will also be no Deepavali celebrations for the over 1,500 policemen and officers from Adilabad, Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal districts who have been keeping vigil at Bhainsa. They are likely to spend Deepavali night in the lanes and by lanes.

“There is no logic in celebrating the festival when our children are behind bars", points out a resident who rues his son being behind bars as he is an accused in one of the cases related to the communal trouble.

He says the family will make do with Laxmi puja at home this year. “No sweetmeats oad other traditional eatables are being made at home,”he adds.

Laxmi puja

“Even if the curfew is relaxed to enable us to celebrate, I do not think any businessman will go beyond performing the Laxmi puja. There is no question of decorating our premises with lights or burst firecrackers this time around,” says a businessman in the gunj area.

“Deepavali used to be celebrated on a grand scale in Bhainsa. The entire main market and the gunj area used to be flooded with special lighting on the occasion.

The noise of firecrackers sometimes continued up to the wee hours,” recalls Satyanarayan Vyas, a businessman in the gunj.

The effect of communal disturbances gets extended to the business of firecrackers. About 10 shops used to be set up at least 10 days before the day of the festival.

According to an estimate, the daily turnover of these shops stood somewhere between Rs. 2 lakhs and Rs. 3 lakhs.

Deepawali is one of the festivals where communal amity is visible. People from different communities in town used to greet each other during the celebrations.

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