By Madina Toure
The Hindu community is planning to continue its efforts to get Diwali, the festival of lights, recognized as a school holiday by the city, despite feeling ignored after the recent recognitions of Muslim and southeast Asian holidays.
Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced that Lunar New Year would become a school holiday starting in February 2016.
In March, de Blasio announced official school holidays for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two Muslim holidays. But he said that no other holidays will be considered for recognition.
“I said well before this year, that I believed we needed to recognize the two Eid holidays, that I believed we needed to recognize Asian Lunar New year,” de Blasio said during a news conference. “And that’s all I’ve ever said, and that’s where we will stand.”
But Pradip Das, the coordinator of the New York City School Hindu Holiday Campaign, which seeks recognition for Diwali and two other holidays, Janmashtami and Dussehra, is not pleased with de Blasio’s comments.
“We are very disappointed, especially the statement he made in the newspapers that he kept his promise both to Asians and the Muslims,” said Das, who is also director of the Jamaica chapter of the American Hindu Council. “He’s not mayor for the Muslims only, he’s mayor for everybody, and he should keep that in mind.”
Dilip Nath, president of the New American Voters Association and a member of the board of trustees of the American Bengali Hindu Foundation, who is also working on the campaign, hopes a bill introduced by State Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-Hollis) that would make Diwali a public holiday statewide will go through.
“This is not about a campaign promise, this is about being fair, treating everyone with respect and equally,” Nath said. “That’s all it’s about.”
City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said a non-binding resolution he introduced in July 2013 that would recognize the holiday is awaiting scheduling by a committee. The resolution can only become law if Farina chooses to recognize the holiday.
The resolution is sponsored by seven Council members, including Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) and Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside).
Dromm has been in communication with the activists and said that getting the holiday recognized will require “some organized and continued lobbying.”
He described efforts to get Lunar New Year and the Eid holidays recognized as a “10-year struggle” and suggested that the Hindu community get political clout as well.
“I think that my office, working with the other groups, the supporters of the Diwali holiday, should try to extract the same type of promise from those who are seeking higher office in the future,” Dromm said.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
