How Vidyanand Bapat forced Pune to talk on Ganpati noise pollution

A day after being attacked for opposing high-decibel DJs and loudspeakers during public festivals in Pune, activist Vidyanand Bapat addressed the press on Friday and reaffirmed his stance. According to Bapat, the assault had not shaken his resolve, emphasizing that his campaign focused on noise pollution, traffic obstruction, and citizens' rights, not on the events themselves.

He reiterated that his issue was with public celebrations causing noise pollution and disrupting traffic, not with festivals or religious celebrations in general. Bapat also criticized those diverting the debate towards his personality, stating that he did not seek publicity and urged the media and citizens to focus on his issues.

He questioned the attackers' motives, accusing them of seeking cheap publicity and behaving like monkeys. Bapat maintained that the debate should be about the proper conduct of public festivals while respecting citizens' rights and existing restrictions. He expressed his intention to form an organized structure for his campaign in the near future.

Bapat, who described himself as a person with a left-wing ideology and not religious, accused his opponents of wanting to create disorder in public spaces and called them a menace to society. The controversy began after Bapat was attacked on Thursday while speaking to a media channel on Tilak Road.