Diwali is a Hindu festival, also known as the Festival of Lights. It is enjoyed by Hindus in India and abroad by lighting traditional lamps. This lamp symbolizes the spiritual light of knowledge over the darkness of ignorance. Diwali, festival of happiness too which is Celebrated by Hindu community living in any part of the world. Vice President of USA, Kamala Harris and Uk Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak celebrated early diwali at their own official residences with lots of pomp and pleasure.
“There is certainly a difficult and dark moment that we are facing”
Kamala Harris, along with her husband Doug Emhoff, celebrated Diwali eve on Tuesday at her own residential place in Washington Dc. The mother of Harris was of Indian origin, so she is a half Indian By blood. US Vice President told the guests about celebration of this festival of light as the world today is facing a “difficult and dark moment” in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Several groups called for a boycott of Harris’ Diwali celebrations. Around 300 people came to celebrate Diwali at the Vice President kamala Harris’ residence. This year Vice President did not interact with the invited guests except for some selected Indian American legislators- Ro Khanna, Sri Thanadar, Raja Krishnamurthy and Pramila Jaipal.
Indian-American entrepreneur Ajay Jain Bhutoria was also present at the event. He posted pictures of the Diwali celebrations in his social media handle. Bhutoria presented a book to the staff of Vice President Harris on the spiritual journey of Jain Acharya Mahapragya sharing a message of peace.
She remarked that people use to celebrate Diwali at a time when so much is happening in our world. There is certainly a difficult and dark moment that the whole world is trying to deal with in many ways in our world, but the images in the reports coming out of Israel and Gaza are the most devastating and heartbreaking right now.
“It is very important that we bring home the American hostages and that we prevent escalation in that region. So I will say these words, understand that it is critically important that when we celebrate something like Diwali, it Illuminates in a way that speaks. Truth,” she also added.
Indian- Canadian poet Rupi Kaur was also invited but she declined the invitation over the US response to the Gaza crisis.
She is mostly known for writing poetry on various issues, such as sexual violence, mental health, and immigration.
Rupi Kaur wrote on her X’ Account, “I decline any invitation from an institution that supports the collective punishment of a trapped civilian population—50% of whom are children.I’m surprised this administration finds it acceptable to celebrate Diwali, when their support of the current atrocities against Palestinians represent the exact opposite of what this holiday means to many of us.
Today, the American government is not only funding the bombing of Gaza, they are continuing to justify this genocide against the Palestinians – no matter how many refugee camps, health facilities and synagogues are blown up.”
She also called the South-Asian community to hold the US government accountable.
Diwali celebration at 10 Downing Street
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak along with his wife Akshata Murty arranged a gathering for Diwali celebration ahead of Diwali at 10 Downing Street.
Rishi Sunak was not born in India. But he is Indian by family. He created history as the first Indian-origin sitting in the British Parliament. Indians have a deep interest in Sunak.
Rishi Sunak had told earlier that he is a proud Hindu, that’s how he was raised and that’s how he is. He is a spiritual person. During one of his recent visits to India for the G20 Summit, Sunak offered prayers at the famous Akshardham Temple in New Delhi.
Rishi Sunak’s official social page posted a tweet on X, saying:
“Tonight Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed guests from the Hindu community to Downing Street ahead of Diwali – a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness.”
Last year, Sunak was spotted lighting up outside his official residence at 10 Downing Street in London. This year Diwali is being celebrated with grandeur. Several pictures of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have already been shared on social media on November 9 ( Thursday). Downing Street was decorated with vibrant lights, where a large number of people were present. After lighting the special lamp Sunak welcomed the guests and interacted with them.
The Prime Minister’s Office later wished Diwali to the entire world on X handle. “Happy Diwali to everyone in Britain and around the world”, as written in the post.
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