Dear Editor,
Diwali, the Hindu celebration known as the “Festival of Lights,” a public holiday in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, will be a public school holiday in New York City starting next year, 2023. Diwali Day has been an excused school day for the last dozen years for students and staff who celebrated the festival. Parking rules were also suspended during that period. From next year, Diwali day will be an official school holiday. NYC Mayor Eric Adams made the announcement on Thursday morning at a press conference to include the holiday in the public school schedule.
The mayor made a promise in his election campaign last year to make Diwali a holiday. He told Hindus at several Guyanese Mandirs that the recognition was long overdue. At several public functions this year, the mayor was mocked and faced sarcastic remarks by Hindus for not honoring his promise. At Diwali celebrations last Saturday, he was reminded again. It is not known how many City students are Hindus but the number is in the tens of thousands. There are approximately 400,000 Indian Guyanese in NYC with over half being Hindus. There are over fifty Guyanese Mandirs in the city.
Rajkumar, who introduced legislation to recognize Diwali, said in the press conference, “Anniversary Day is an obscure and antiquated day as compared to Diwali, which is celebrated by a growing number of New Yorkers.” She commented that people have said that “there’s simply not enough room in the New York City school calendar to have a Diwali school holiday. Well, my legislation makes the room.”
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram