Actor Dia Mirza’s video for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s eco-friendly Deepavali campaign sparked a political row. File picture
| Photo Credit: PTI
Emphasising that India has a secular Constitution which allows people of all backgrounds to participate in festivals, the Bombay High Court slammed political criticism of actor Dia Mirza’s participation in a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation campaign for an eco-friendly, firecracker-free Deepavali. The court directed the civic body to immediately re-upoload actor Dia Mirza’s awareness video.
Though the BMC had recruited Ms. Mirza as one of several celebrities for its campaign, it had removed her video from its website after politicians from the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena objected to her participation on the grounds of religion, saying that Hindus did not need Ms. Mirza to teach them how to celebrate Deepavali, and asking why she had not made similar appeals for Muslim festivals.
A Division Bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale shut down this kind of “petty mindset”, stressing that a festival is for everyone to celebrate and no person can be kept out of a festival in India. The Bench asked how anyone could object to participation by a person on the grounds of religion.
‘Everyone breathes air’
The court pointed out that the video carried a message against pollution, as per the court order. Justice Kulkarni said politicians had made negative comments without noting the court order that permitted everyone to take part in the initiative.
The court referred to an observation by the Supreme Court that Deepavali is celebrated by everyone, across caste and religion, and questioned the objections to Ms. Mirza’s participation on grounds of religion.
Justice Gokhale said the heart of the matter was the shared environment. Everyone breathes air, she said, adding that a bar on firecrackers does not take away anyone’s right to celebrate a festival. There is no room for factionalism when the issue at stake is health, pollution, and the environment, the Bench said.
Need to restore confidence
It directed the BMC to re-upload the video and restore confidence among people, so that the matter ends with a sense of collective belonging in Mumbai, a city that survives on togetherness. No negative comment should disturb this harmony, it added.
The matter went to court after Mumbai BJP president and MLA Ameet Satam objected to the BMC featuring Ms. Mirza in its eco-friendly Deepavali campaign. Mayor Ritu Tawde said Hindus did not need Ms. Mirza to teach them how to celebrate Deepavali. State Minister Nitesh Rane asked why the actor had made an appeal on pollution at Deepavali but not on Eid, Muharram, or Bakri Eid. Shiv Sena spokesperson Shaina N.C. said Mumbai did not need lessons from Ms. Mirza on Deepavali. Following the barrage of objections, the BMC removed Ms. Mirza’s video from its accounts.
Published – November 03, 2026 01:36 pm IST
