Hindu leaders in New York upset over not including Diwali as holiday

[The_Showstopper]

Hindu leaders in New York upset over not including Diwali as holiday

Hindu community leaders in the US have expressed their disappointment over a decision by the city administration here of excluding Diwali from its list of school holidays. They have accused the mayor of falling short of his responsibility to equally represent all New Yorkers.

• 

Hindu community leaders in the US have expressed their disappointment over a decision by the city administration here of excluding Diwali from its list of school holidays. They have accused the mayor of falling short of his responsibility to equally represent all New Yorkers.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday announced that the city is adding the Muslim holy days of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as holidays in its public school calendar as "respect for one of the great faiths of this earth" and as an "acknowledgment that in a strong society all faiths needed to be respected".

The announcement has made New York City the largest school district in the nation to take this action. The mayor, however, excluded Diwali from the public school holiday calendar, despite growing calls by the Hindu community to observe the festival given that hundreds of thousands of Indians living in the area celebrate it.

Leaders at the advocacy organisation Hindu American Foundation (HAF) expressed deep disappointment with de Blasio's decision to exclude Diwali from the 2015-16 public school calendars.

"While the addition of two Muslim holidays is commendable, the Mayor's decision to exclude Diwali, a festival that is celebrated by thousands of Hindu, Jain, and Sikhs in NYC is beyond disappointing," HAF's NYC-based Senior Director Sheetal Shah said.

"These communities are a vibrant and integral part of this city and deserve to be able to celebrate their festivals. In excluding Diwali, the Mayor is falling short on his responsibility to equally represent all New Yorkers," Shah added.

President of the Ganesh Temple in Queens, one of the largest in the region, Uma Mysorekar said the community is "truly disappointed" by the decision.

"Our students should not have to worry about missing school work or exams in order to practice their faith," she added. Last year, HAF had joined hands with a broad-based Diwali Coalition of almost 40 organisations and NYC temples that had urged the Mayor to include Diwali alongside two proposed Muslim holidays and the Lunar New Year.

Meanwhile, the New York chapter of Muslim civil liberties group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) welcomed the announcement, saying "Muslim public school students will finally and thankfully no longer be penalised for observing their religious holidays".


Hindu leaders in New York upset over not including Diwali as holiday | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis

 

[Don Badass]

I live in NYC. There are five times as many Muslims as there are Hindus here.

Hindus dont observe Diwali like Muslims observe Eid , either.

That said, de Blassio's reasoning of "respect for one of the great faiths of this earth" and as an "acknowledgment that in a strong society all faiths needed to be respected" is bullshit if he only includes Christian, Islamic, and Jewish holidays and not Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, etc holidays.

He shouldnt have said it like that, but he did the right thing, practically speaking.

 

[Ind4Ever]

Testing US democracy , secularism and respect for all Americans ?

Will Obama walk the talk ?

...... NO

 

[DesiGuy]

MUST keep religion OUT of schools...American founding fathers must be turning in their graves. There was a reason why they kept separation of religion and state.

 

[jaatram]

Hindus will have to face such humiliation over and over again.

 

[Sneaker]

MUST keep religion OUT of schools...American founding fathers must be turning in their graves. There was a reason why they kept separation of religion and state.

So, no holidays for christmas? what about pledge of allegiance?

 

[Koovie]

How many Hindus are there to begin with?

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

Hindus will have to face such humiliation over and over again.

There are not that many Hindus in NYC to have a public holiday. Read on:

I live in NYC. There are five times as many Muslims as there are Hindus here.

Hindus dont observe Diwali like Muslims observe Eid , either.

That said, de Blassio's reasoning of "respect for one of the great faiths of this earth" and as an "acknowledgment that in a strong society all faiths needed to be respected" is bullshit if he only includes Christian, Islamic, and Jewish holidays and not Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, etc holidays.

He shouldnt have said it like that, but he did the right thing, practically speaking.

 

[Luca1]

Testing US democracy , secularism and respect for all Americans ?

Will Obama walk the talk ?

...... NO

This is not O's decision. It's a city matter. I support only tradional holidays in America such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other people can take a vacation day to celebrate their own holiday

 

[DesiGuy]

So, no holidays for christmas? what about pledge of allegiance?

It all should be removed. US was created under a secular constitution that promises religious freedom and a separation of church and state. The pledge allegiance should go back to it's original and "under god" should be removed.

"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
John Adams.

 

[SitaramVillas]

There are not that many Hindus in NYC to have a public holiday. Read on:

By the same token there are not many Christians in most states of India, so Christmas holiday must be canceled.

 

[Don Badass]

By the same token there are not many Christians in most states of India, so Christmas holiday must be canceled.

First of all America is not India and we dont have to follow what India does. India is not obligated to designate Christmas as a national holiday and America, Europe, Christians around the world, etc probably wouldnt take offense to India not designating Christamas as an official holiday.

Second of all, you are missing the more likely reason that Christmas is designated as a national holiday in India - for economic/practicality purposes, since Christmas is not only a huge religious day, but also a huge cultural and commercial holiday.

Religious holidays are respected in NYC/the U.S.. Contrary to what this article implies, students arent penalized for missing days for religious purposes.

I dont see the Hindus in this article advocating other minority religions' holidays. They are only looking out for themselves and just seem butthurt that the major Muslim holidays got officially recognized while the major Hindu one didnt. They are like African Americans who claim to fight for equality but then only fight for black people while ignoring everyone else.

It all should be removed. US was created under a secular constitution that promises religious freedom and a separation of church and state. The pledge allegiance should go back to it's original and "under god" should be removed.

"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
John Adams.

Youre acting like the pledge of allegiance is mandatory , when it's completely optional

 

[Jlaw]

hindus lol. A lesson for all countries, immigration is bad.

 

[Don Badass]

hindus lol. A lesson for all countries, immigration is bad.

it seems that denmark let your chinese *** immigrate to them

is it still bad?

 

[Jlaw]

it seems that denmark let your chinese *** immigrate to them

is it still bad?

hindus, give an inch they ask for a mile, lol