28th October 2016

- The Times of India

Diwali 2016: Surtis boycott Chinese crackers this Diwali

SURAT: Traders in the Diamond City have decided not to sell the Chinese crackers owing to Chinas support for Pakistan.
Following the public outcry calling for the ban on Chinese products, the residents in Surat have voluntarily boycotted Chinese crackers this Diwali.

The cracker traders said the customers are asking for only Made in India crackers and refuse to buy Chinese fire crackers after the campaign to boycott Chinese goods has gathered steam on social media to protest against Chinas tacit support to Pakistan following the Uri terror attacks.

Every year, Surtis purchase firecrackers to the tune of over Rs 30 crore during the Diwali festival.
A few days ago, the city police had initiated legal action against a fire cracker retailer caught selling Chinese crackers at Dabgarwad in the walled city.

Sources said that the Surat rural police has issued an public appeal urging citizens to refrain from buying Chinese fireworks that are imported illegally in the city.

The Central Government has banned the import of Chinese fire crackers in the city. However, despite of the ban, fire crackers worth crores of rupees are imported illegally through various channels and supplied across the country.

A firecracker wholesaler at Bhagal, Juned Atasbajiwala told TOI, "Every year, people prefer to buy Chinese crackers as they are cheap. This time around, people seems to have voluntarily boycotted the Chinese crackers. The Chinese firecrackers are said to be unsafe, hazardous to use and have detrimental effects on peoples health."

Atasbajiwala added, "All the firecrackers sold in the city are brought from Sivakasi. The Indian made crackers are safe to use and comes with the seal of authenticity."

"Country is supreme and all other things come later. Thus we have taken this decision and believe people are really very unhappy with the Chinese support to Pakistan and they do not want to buy Chinese goods be it crackers or the other goods," said Naresh Patel, a firecracker dealer at Athwalines.

Official sources said that there are more than 500 stalls across the city from where the firecrackers could be bought. There are around 70 retail firecracker shops located in different parts of the city. Majority of the dealers are in the walled city areas including Bhagal, Mahidhapura, Navsari Bazaar and Zampa Bazaar.