Indians outrage on social media after people light fireworks, lead processions after lights off

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed for lights-out and urged people to lights candles and diyas for 9 minutes at 9 am on Sunday, to show solidarity in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

By: Trends Desk
New Delhi | April 6, 2020 01:22 PM IST

4 min read

While several cities across the country were lit up in candles and diyas, a section of the public mad a spectacle of the appeal and took to streets with procession and crackers.

In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Indians to switch off all the lights in their homes for 9 minutes at 9 pm Sunday, people across the country went to their balconies, terraces and doorways to light lamps or diyas (see images). However, the gesture that was meant to showcase India’s solidarity in the fight against coronavirus pandemic also saw plenty of outrage on social media as people across the country shared photos and videos of fireworks and processions being held, in spite of the 21-day lockdown.

Photos and videos from several cities showed people taking to the streets and lighting fireworks. In some cases, people led processions in large groups, despite the Prime Minister telling people not to do so since it violated social distancing that is being followed to reduce the spread of the disease.

Social media was flooded with pictures and videos and ‘covidiots‘ began trending all over again:
https://twitter.com/MohanNe94386574/status/1246844497427742720

https://twitter.com/Raj_Dutta/status/1246824900657995777

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 3 asked for the unleashing of the “superpower of 130 crore Indians” to challenge the darkness of the coronavirus crisis with the “glory of light”.

This comes two weeks after citizens clapped, rang bells, and beat utensils to thank the providers of essential services during the Janata Curfew of March 22.

Despite worries over how the shutting down of lights would affect the power grids, as this report points out, there was no major impact.

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