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

[Bang Galore]

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

That is actually a good argument. The complaint of not giving a holiday on diwali should not be looked at in isolation but as a reaction to Muslim holidays being included.

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".

Statements like this are part of a problem. The statement should also be clear that part of the reason is because there exists a substantial population who celebrate the festivals mentioned. Generic statements like this begs the question, why not acknowledge another "great faith" etc....

 

[SitaramVillas]

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.

Christmas is not widely celebrated in India. It is only in the Christmas majority states that you see any hint of festivity. Other places unless one has a Christian neighbor one wont even know it was Christmas but for the official holiday.

I do not see why Hindus have to advocate for other minority religions holidays. Have they taken a theka to do social service for all the disadvantaged groups in the world or are the other minorities without the god given ability to speak up for themselves. They have a right to first and foremost look out for their own self interest, especially in a state where their needs and religious sentiments are being blatantly ignored.

While I understand the argument that America is not India, likewise India is not American and Americans should keep their butt out of Indian affairs and not preach religious freedom and tolerance to us when they are so deficient in understanding religious freedom themselves.

 

[mooppan]

Christmas is not widely celebrated in India. It is only in the Christmas majority states that you see any hint of festivity. Other places unless one has a Christian neighbor one wont even know it was Christmas but for the official holiday.

LOL...blah blah...
May be in your neighbourhood...Christmas is hugely popular and widely celebrated by all the religious communities of Kerala state,that includes 10 day school/college holidays and also in southern Tamilnadu,Goa,Parts of coastal Karnataka in south India,Not just in some Christian majority NE states..
Don't make stupid comments..

 

[Don Badass]

Christmas is not widely celebrated in India. It is only in the Christmas majority states that you see any hint of festivity. Other places unless one has a Christian neighbor one wont even know it was Christmas but for the official holiday.

I understand that Christians are not the majority there. It is still big commercially and culturally, as far as I know. Ive been to Bombay during christmas time a few times, and there are lights, shopping, TV commercials, etc. Even non-Christians usually give a casual "Merry Christmas". Christmas is huge worldwide holiday, Including in india

That said i acknowledge that Mumbai is the biggest city in India and is obviously cosmopolitan

I do not see why Hindus have to advocate for other minority religions holidays. Have they taken a theka to do social service for all the disadvantaged groups in the world or are the other minorities without the god given ability to speak up for themselves. They have a right to first and foremost look out for their own self interest, especially in a state where their needs and religious sentiments are being blatantly ignored.

Did you not read the part when the Hindu leaders from the article 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,"

If you are complaining about lack of equality of representation, then talk about all groups not just your own, or else it's just discriminatory. Fighting for equal representation means fighting for all groups.

lol @ needs and religious sentiments are being blatantly ignored. What makes you think this?

While I understand the argument that America is not India, likewise India is not American and Americans should keep their butt out of Indian affairs and not preach religious freedom and tolerance to us when they are so deficient in understanding religious freedom themselves.

You were the one who brought India into the picture by bringing up India acknowledging Christmas lol

Where are Americans preaching to Indians?

For the record, religious freedom is protected in the U.S. to the core. Even if there are bigot Americans , any illegal discrimination (which is not exclusive to intolerance- intolerance is not necessarily illegal) will be punished by the Law.

 

[SitaramVillas]

I understand that Christians are not the majority there. It is still big commercially and culturally, as far as I know. Ive been to Bombay during christmas time a few times, and there are lights, shopping, TV commercials, etc. Even non-Christians usually give a casual "Merry Christmas". Christmas is huge worldwide holiday, Including in india

It is not. It is only the around churches and some shopping malls you can see some lights. Otherwise, it is pretty much a non-event. Christians form a minuscule population of even Bombay. No one else shops during Christmas other than Christians and as such there are no discount sales or any such for Christmas. So stop making it huge in India when it is not.

"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,"

What is wrong in that statement. That statement is valid coming from a community which has been neglected. They are only asking for the Mayor to respect what he himself held out to be his objective. They mention Diwali specially because that is their core interest. They do not represent other minorities, only the Hindus, and hence can talk only about themselves.

 

[SipahSalar]

There aren't enough hindus in NYC for it to be a holiday. It's not racism, you guys just aren't special.

 

[SitaramVillas]

If you are complaining about lack of equality of representation, then talk about all groups not just your own, or else it's just discriminatory. Fighting for equal representation means fighting for all groups.

lol @ needs and religious sentiments are being blatantly ignored. What makes you think this?

They do not need to speak out for other minorities. They are not the govt and neither collecting taxes from other minorities to represent them. They can only speak about themselves and not try to become leaders of the oppressed world.

There aren't enough hindus in NYC for it to be a holiday. It's not racism, you guys just aren't special.

There are not enough Christians in India for Christmas to be a national holiday. It is not racism either. So India should cancel out Christmas too. Enough of the one sided Abrahamic bigotry.

 

[SipahSalar]

There are not enough Christians in India for Christmas to be a national holiday. It is not racism either. So India should cancel out Christmas too. Enough of the one sided Abrahamic bigotry.

You see they are not comparing it to India. They cant have every religions holidays as school holidays. The schools will never open then. Now diwali, then holi. So it's not about India vs USA.

 

[SitaramVillas]

You were the one who brought India into the picture by bringing up India acknowledging Christmas lol

Where are Americans preaching to Indians?

For the record, religious freedom is protected in the U.S. to the core. Even if there are bigot Americans , any illegal discrimination (which is not exclusive to intolerance- intolerance is not necessarily illegal) will be punished by the Law.

It is not India which fingers US on religious freedom. Rather it it US which interferes in India and tries to lecture India about religious freedom. What was Obama doing giving us lessons about harmony and religious freedom both on his visit to India and after if not preach.

You see they are not comparing it to India. They cant have every religions holidays as school holidays. The schools will never open then. Now diwali, then holi. So it's not about India vs USA.

Well we seem to have a lot of holiday and yet our schools seems to function quite well. May be we should cancel out all minority holidays to reach the efficiency seen by US schools.

 

[SipahSalar]

Well we seem to have a lot of holiday and yet our schools seems to function quite well. May be we should cancel out all minority holidays to reach the efficiency seen by US schools.

Yes, you are free to do that. You see the minorities in India are Indians, not Americans. It won't affect USA in anyway. It's not a Christian nation.

 

[SitaramVillas]

LOL...blah blah...
May be in your neighbourhood...Christmas is hugely popular and widely celebrated by all the religious communities of Kerala state,that includes 10 day school/college holidays and also in southern Tamilnadu,Goa,Parts of coastal Karnataka in south India,Not just in some Christian majority NE states..
Don't make stupid comments..

Stupid. I said the festivities were seen only in Christian populated areas which is what you have listed out. I included neighborhood where Christians lived. Apparently, you are not too bright to understand.

Yes, you are free to do that. You see the minorities in India are Indians, not Americans. It won't affect USA in anyway. It's not a Christian nation.

Exactly. But then considering how convulsed the Christian world seems to be about so called Christian persecution in India, one would think India is an extension of the Christian world.

 

[Don Badass]

It is not. It is only the around churches and some shopping malls you can see some lights. Otherwise, it is pretty much a non-event. Christians form a minuscule population of even Bombay. No one else shops during Christmas other than Christians and as such there are no discount sales or any such for Christmas. So stop making it huge in India when it is not.

Well this goes against my experiences, my parents' experiences, and mooppan's experiences.

The fact that it is recognized in every Indian state and territory goes against what youre saying too. Why would the Indian government recognize it if it wasnt a big deal?

There is not a single Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh holiday that is recognized in all states and territories. Theyre going to ignore Sikh's, who make up 2% of indian population, and recognize Christians, who make up 3.7% of population? No - the reason Chrsitmas is recognized everywhere while Vaisakhi is not is because Christmas is a huge deal in more than religious ways.

What is wrong in that statement. That statement is valid coming from a community which has been neglected. They are only asking for the Mayor to respect what he himself held out to be his objective. They mention Diwali specially because that is their core interest. They do not represent other minorities, only the Hindus, and hence can talk only about themselves.

Dont talk like you know what's going on here. Nobody is being neglected. Like I said, Hindus can take religious days off with no problems whatsoever. Alternate side street parking is eliminated on Diwali. In New Jersey districts with very high proportions of Hindus, Diwali is a school holiday. As you can see, practicality is the only thing that matters. If NYC had a higher proportion of Hindus, Diwali would be a school holiday. But since the population in NYC isnt that high, the only action required to make things practical is to ease up on parking rules rather than full blown school day off.

The statement is not consistent with their actions. If you say you fight for equality amongst the group: A, B, C, D, and E; and then go on to only fight for C, then you are not actually fighting for equal representation, but just for the promotion of C.

The White House in Washington DC has a Diwali service every single year. Obama has taken time out of this busy service to personally attend these.

Here is a picture of Manhattan's vaunted skyline being lit up with fireworks during diwali despite NYC only having .5% Hindu population:

 

[SitaramVillas]

Well this goes against my experiences, my parents' experiences, and mooppan's experiences.

The fact that it is recognized in every Indian state and territory goes against what youre saying too. Why would the Indian government recognize it if it wasnt a big deal?

There is not a single Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh holiday that is recognized in all states and territories. Theyre going to ignore Sikh's, who make up 2% of indian population, and recognize Christians, who make up 3.7% of population? No - the reason Chrsitmas is recognized everywhere while Vaisakhi is not is because Christmas is a huge deal in more than religious ways.

This goes against my experience as a Mumbaikar. The fact that it is recognized in every state in India has nothing to do with its economic potential but a carry over from the British times. I do not know a single Hindu or Muslim family around here who actually do shopping for Christmas. I have seen the same in all Southern states as well as Northern India.

Dont talk like you know what's going on here. Nobody is being neglected. Like I said, Hindus can take religious days off with no problems whatsoever. Alternate side street parking is eliminated on Diwali. In New Jersey districts with very high proportions of Hindus, Diwali is a school holiday. As you can see, practicality is the only thing that matters. If NYC had a higher proportion of Hindus, Diwali would be a national holiday. But since the population in NYC isnt that high, the only action required to make things practical is to ease up on parking rules rather than full blown school day off.

The statement is not consistent with their actions. If you say you fight for equality amongst the group: A, B, C, D, and E; and then go on to only fight for C, then you are not actually fighting for equal representation, but just for the promotion of C.

The White House in Washington DC has a Diwali service every single year. Obama has taken time out of this busy service to personally attend these.

Here is a picture of Manhattan's vaunted skyline being lit up with fireworks during diwali despite NYC only having .5% Hindu population:

Right. We should also just give Christians holiday and cancel it for everyone else because it is not practical. Thankfully, the govt is already moving in that direction. Good Governance Day anyone?

 

[Don Badass]

This goes against my experience as a Mumbaikar. The fact that it is recognized in every state in India has nothing to do with its economic potential but a carry over from the British times. I do not know a single Hindu or Muslim family around here who actually do shopping for Christmas. I have seen the same in all Southern states as well as Northern India.


Right. We should also just give Christians holiday and cancel it for everyone else because it is not practical. Thankfully, the govt is already moving in that direction. Good Governance Day anyone?

Well, like I said, India is not obligated to recognize any specific holidays. This topic was about NYC though, and I was just explaining why Diwali isnt designated as a school holiday while Eid is. And it has nothing to do with Hindus getting the shaft or not being represented equally

 

[mooppan]

Stupid. I said the festivities were seen only in Christian populated areas which is what you have listed out. I included neighborhood where Christians lived. Apparently, you are not too bright to understand.



Exactly. But then considering how convulsed the Christian world seems to be about so called Christian persecution in India, one would think India is an extension of the Christian world.

I have never claimed to be bright or an intellectual,My English is far below average..Moreover its way better being a stupid than a hate mongering 'brights' like you..
You said Christmas is celebrated only in some CHRISTIAN majority states of India..But Kerala,goa or Southern Tamilnadu is not Christian majority(yes,have huge sizeable Christian population),but still celebrated by majority of the communities irrespective of their faiths there(at least putting stars,Christmas shopping etc)...
Christmas will remain as an national holiday of India for ever..You are free to bark and howl..but it remains as it is..