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Indo-Caribbean people in New York press for Diwali to be school holiday
Dear Editor,
New York City officially celebrates Diwali on Wednesday (Nov 11) with suspension of parking rules and an excused absence for public school students and staff who take the day off – unlike in Guyana, there no dispute among Hindu leaders on the date for official city recognition.
But as in Guyana, some Hindus (and mandirs) celebrate Diwali on Tuesday while the bulk of the mandirs (including South Asians) celebrate on Wednesday. Diwali is not an official holiday in which government offices or schools are closed although that was the demand or request from Hindus.
Guyanese Hindu community leaders joined the struggle to gain city recognition with a holiday for the festival with many of us engaging in petition drives, rallies and community meetings with politicians making the case for such recognition.
The demand for school closure was (and still is) supported by most of the 51 Members of City Council as well as Members of Congress and the State Legislatures (Senate and Assembly) from among those lawmakers who represent the city.
Mayor (Bill De Blasio rejected a holiday saying it would be very costly to the city and that students will miss out on important instruction. But he did not say the same when granting official holidays for Eid and Lunar New Year. It so happens that this year Diwali falls on Veterans Day, and, as such, schools are shut and all government offices (nationally) are closed. But that has not prevented community leaders from fuming at the Mayor of NYC for refusing to include Diwali among the list of school closure holidays.
Mayor de Blasio has found himself facing the ire of Hindus as well as many non-Hindus (in solidarity with the Hindu community) and political representatives from around the five boroughs of the city for refusing to include Diwali in the list of public holidays.
Educators and city legislators say since Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (and the Chinese Lunar) have been recognized with holidays, Hinduism should be included in the list to grant religious equity and fairness. The Mayor included Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in the list of school holidays for this academic year and going forward.
He initially denied the Chinese Lunar New Year and the Hindu New Year of Diwali. He later backpedaled following pressure from the large Chinese (and other Asian) community and included Lunar Day as a holiday. But he has refused to yield on Diwali saying students would miss out on important instruction; there are some ten other religious days in which schools are closed.
Hindus and Indians in general (as well as Chinese and other Asians) voted for De Blasio two years ago to be Mayor. In refusing to include Diwali as a holiday, the Mayor denies recognition and respect to a large and growing community of over 600K Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and others in the city who celebrate the festival.
Congresswoman Grace Meng, a Chinese, from the Sixth District in Queens (with tens of thousands of Hindus) was disappointed with the Mayor’s refusal to sign the law to recognize Diwali. Congressman Greg Meeks from the 7th District with the largest Guyanese population in America number over 100,000K and an additional 50,000 Trinis plus 100,000 South Asians had also supported Diwali as a school holiday in the city.
A broad based coalition of Indo-Caribbeans and South Asians (of over 40 organizations) joined together lobbying the Mayor to include Diwali in the list of public holidays. There were countless meetings with city officials and petitions urging the Mayor to reconsider his decision. But he would not budge similar to how his predecessor Mike Bloomberg refused to grant parking suspension for Diwali; the 51 member City Council eventually unanimously overrode his veto making it law.
But the battle for a Diwali holiday in NY is not over. The activists plan to revisit this issue early next year petitioning the City Council legislature and Mayor to reconsider his refusal not to recognize Diwali with a school holiday.
Separately, the Caribbean Diwali motorcade was held on Liberty Avenue on Saturday evening with dozens of floats lightening up the area drawing thousands of spectators and celebrants including South Asians and people of diverse ethnicities.
Vishnu Bisram
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