On Diwali day, the most auspicious festival for most Hindus and an occasion that marks the return of Maryada Purshottam Ram to Ayodhya from Vanvaas, several celebrities take to social media platforms to not only wish Hindus but also preach about how the festival should or should not be celebrated. A similar message was posted by Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
Happy Diwali 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/USLnZnMwzT
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 14, 2020
In the 18 second video, Virat Kohli said, “A very happy Diwali from me to you and your families. May God bless you with peace, prosperity and happiness this Diwali. Please remember do not burst crackers, protect the environment and have fun at home with your loved ones with a simple Diya and sweets on this auspicious occasion. God bless you all. Take care”.
In a World Cup winning feat, because lets face it, he is not winning many of those these days, Virat Kohli gave a masterclass on how to p*ss Hindus off in 18 seconds flat.
Diwali is an auspicious occasion where every year, celebrities sanctimoniously tell Hindus how they should or should not celebrate their festival and how they should protect the environment. This, while they drive in expensive petrol guzzling SUVs, take chartered flights across the world, play on fields that have been made after cutting several trees, use the air-conditioning, and of course, the list is endless.
While Hindus have taken such preaching lying down for long enough, the sanctimony is getting old and Hindus seem to be losing patience.
As soon as Virat Kohli had tweeted the video, several Netizens proceeded to chastise Kohli and point out his own hypocrisy to him.
While it is entirely possible that Virat Kohli has purposely not won IPL series this season to ensure that no crackers are burst and the environment is protected, it was pointed out by one Netizen that Virat Kohli does not seem to mind when crackers are burst on IPL finals.
This Guy just had Firecracker full of IPL Final.
— Aashish (@kashmiriRefuge) November 14, 2020
He is telling us how to celebrate, did he tell the same to BCCI or IPL organisers? https://t.co/ZciPl6lK0j
Some others pointed out how Kohli owns a fleet of luxury cars like Bentley, Audi etc that guzzle petrol and do more damage to the environment than crackers on Diwali.
prOtEcT tHE eNVirONment https://t.co/BTgm4Z4RfY pic.twitter.com/enC8gkRwIq
— Pranjal (@Singhalsome) November 14, 2020
I shall travel in Chartered planes, I shall own 100s of fuel guzzling cars, ACs will be switched on in my my house years round. But you, you mustn't celebrate your festival properly. Oh, and happy diwali.#BallPellGyaanNahi https://t.co/58krdj1lYt
— Ash Aro (@Logictriumphs) November 14, 2020
Others pointed out that the cricket field he plays on required trees to be cut for it to turn into a field.
Cricket fields don't require cutting trees. Water is not wasted. IPL doesn't burst crackers. Cars, team buses & ✈️don't use up fossil fuel. Marriages n adv don't burst crackers. Prods endorsed by dem r all eco friendly. Environment destroyed only due 2 bursting crackers on Diwali https://t.co/Wrr0d2PLWT
— Communalist Hindu (@Bauddhika108) November 14, 2020
Netizens pointed out that how crackers were burst while his wife performed, and he did not seem to mind very much.
Okay https://t.co/43pswzSdFR pic.twitter.com/DpFFVUZT2f
— ABHISHEK SEMWAL ︎ ︎ (@Abhiisshhek) November 14, 2020
Netizens, notably, were simply not happy with Kohli.
In 18 second video he manages to lecture on not to burst crackers and ends it with "God bless you".https://t.co/KblzKrANXt
— Raivata (@bhimpandav) November 14, 2020
You play cricket, we gave you love, adulation, status, endorsements and recognition.
— Nisheeth Sharan (@nisheethsharan) November 14, 2020
NEVER, EVER make the mistake of imagining you are a social, religious or thought leader of the Hindus.
Stop preaching, you dont have the credentials for it. https://t.co/pNJajfkBsg
Now even he has also joined this category of people who give morality lessons during #festivals.
— #SacheinSathyajithNair🇮🇳 (@SacheinS2606) November 14, 2020
Cricket captains of other countries are proud of their respective countries cultures but he wants to dictate others on how to celebrate festivals. How ridiculous https://t.co/z6A5LyuEvu
Let's call a spade a spade. This man Kohli doesn't have a spine to tell people to stop slaughtering animals for some festival but will only tell me to stop using crackers because animals are scared of sound. So fear of sound of animals >>>>>> Life.
— Maya (@Sharanyashettyy) November 14, 2020
This wokeness is a disease. https://t.co/ll9VLbspny
It is perhaps time for celebrities to understand that whether they are Bollywood artists or cricketers, they get adulation and admiration for their craft, however, to assume that they can preach to people and get away with their hypocrisy is expecting a bit much.
