Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday again defended his choice of November 10th as the date for the observation of Diwali, while saying that 90 Pandits and Swamis have provided him with the rationalisation for the decision.
Ramjattan offered his explanation in a letter to prominent citizen Yesu Persaud, who had a day earlier written the Minister expressing support for the selection by Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha (GHDS) President Dr Vindhya Persaud of November 11th as the date for the observation.
The GHDS–a major organisation–and other groups have said their calculations show the day as November 11th. Other groups and scholars have contended that the day should be November 10th.
“In my opinion no politician should be able to get (involved) in religious matters as there is a fear you will intervene in other religious groups’ affairs. I suggest you leave this decision up to Dr Persaud since she represents the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha.
This is my humble opinion on the recent dispute,” Persaud had also written in his letter to Ramjattan.
In his reply, Ramjattan said he shared Persaud’s opinion that political types should not get involved in religious affairs. “Just to remind you, however, that Dr Vindhya Persaud, a politician pure and simple and not a Pandit nor Swami, was instructing the country to celebrate Deepavali on 11th November, 2015 against the wishes of Pandits and Swamis.
The Pandits and Swamis of this country, totalling some ninety… whose signatures I have and who have rationalised and justified why it should be 10th November, 2015 asked me – the Minister with powers under the law – to correct the mistake made by politician Dr Vindhya Persaud. In accordance with my religious principles and my legal duty, I did exactly that,” Ramjattan stated.
He said the Pandits and Swamis who have argued in favour of November 10th represent a number of sabhas, including the Maha Sabha, the Viraat Sabha and the Vedic Sabha and it would be “oppressively discriminatory to leave the decision to just one Sabha, the Dharmic Sabha.”
He said he had heard their opposing arguments and gave a “reasoned decision.” He attached the documentation for Persaud’s perusal.
Meanwhile, the main opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday voiced its unequivocal support for the GHDS on the selection of the date, while accusing Ramjattan of political interference in religious affairs.
The GHDS President is a prominent member of the PPP and serves as ones of its parliamentarians.
In a statement issued yesterday, the PPP demanded that the date selected for the observation by Ramjattan be withdrawn forthwith and that November 11th be declared the national holiday as agreed and reflected in all calendars issued in Guyana.
“This was clearly a political act on the part of the APNU+AFC by inserting themselves in the long-held religious and cultural traditions of our country,” it said.
It noted that while in office Clement Rohee, Ramjattan’s predecessor in the former Home Affairs Ministry, had signed off on the dates for a number of national holidays for this year and had approved November 11th for Diwali. It added that the dates were reflected in all the calendars issued in December, 2014 for the year 2015 in Guyana.
“Up to Eid-ul-Adha all the national holidays have been observed without division nor disharmony in our society, save for dates for the observance of Deepavali/ Diwali,” the party said.
The ongoing row will raise questions over the huge annual Diwali motorcade that is usually staged by the GHDS on the day before the holiday. GHDS had said that its motorcade in Georgetown would be held on November 10th. This is the date that Ramjattan has chosen for the public holiday.
It would pose an issue for many Hindus, who would usually watch the spectacle along the seawall. They would have to decide whether they observe on that day, the 11th or both.
