New Delhi
1 October 2005
Indians and persons of South Asian descent in New York are
spearheading a campaign for inclusion of Diwali to a list of holidays. Last Wednesday,
the New York Council unanimously approved the Bill and if the mayor signs it, Diwali will
be recognised by the city this year on November 1.
If the legislation becomes law, Diwali will become the first Hindu festival on which day
"alternative side of street parking" rules will be suspended, which is considered a
recognition of the festival short of declaring a public holiday. New York already
suspends the parking rules for Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays.
"If you park on the street, on alternate days, the car has to be moved in order to permit
cleaning trucks to clean the side; on certain holidays you don't -- and therefore can leave
it parked in place for another day," a campaigner Udai K Tambar told this newspaper via
email. This will allow more Indians to celebrate the festival.
"If New York city takes this step, it will set a precedent for other cities and municipalities
throughout the country to do the same," says Mr Tambar, the program director for Indian
American Center for Political Awareness and assistant director at Princeton University's
Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs.
Sreenath Sreenivasan, the dean of students at the Columbia Graduate School of
Journalism, in turn told this correspondent that given its large population, it is only fair
the Hindu community be recognised as other religions are. There are over six lakh
foreign-born South Asians living in the New York metro area.
As many of the temples are located in residential neighbourhoods with poor parking
facilities, many feel the suspension of parking rules on Diwali will allow more people to
celebrate the festival. "It's a question of equal protection under the Constitutition. Some
groups get it, why can't we get it?" wonders the the Indian community.
The mayor, however, intends to oppose the Bill "because it means another day when the
streets don't get cleaned". However, the Indian community is presing ahead as the full
meeting of the New Yotk Council can override the mayor's veto for which two-thirds
majority vote (34 votes) in the 51-member Council is required.
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