BJP Pressures BMC to Remove Dia Mirza's Green Diwali Campaign, Sparking Religious Division Debate
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has removed an environmentally focused Diwali awareness video featuring actor Dia Mirza following intense pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party. While civic leaders mandated prior administrative approval for celebrity campaigns, opposition figures fiercely criticized the move as sectarian censorship.
- The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation succumbed to ruling party pressure to take down an environmentally conscious Diwali advertisement featuring Bollywood actor Dia Mirza.
- Actor Dia Mirza defended the public service announcement, asserting it adhered strictly to judicial directives regarding festive pollution controls.
- Opposition politicians have strongly condemned the action, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of promoting religious divisiveness and stifling public welfare messaging.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has pulled down a high-profile public service campaign featuring actor and environmentalist Dia Mirza advocating for sustainable Diwali celebrations, following strenuous objections from local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India's financial capital.
The controversy underscores a growing tension between municipal governance and environmental advocacy during major religious festivals. The civic administration routinely partners with prominent public figures to raise awareness regarding public safety and environmental conservation, though recent political friction has increasingly placed administrative promotional content under intense partisan scrutiny.
According to reports by The Hindu, city officials faced direct ultimatums from the ruling party faction, prompting the mayor to declare that the civic administration must implement mandatory vetting procedures for all celebrity endorsements moving forward. In response, Dia Mirza defended the initiative, maintaining that the broadcast was entirely in the public interest and fully aligned with established directives issued by the Bombay High Court concerning seasonal pollution. Meanwhile, opposition parties severely slammed the BJP, alleging that the intervention was religiously divisive and undermined vital ecological messaging.
