New York: US: Diwali likely to be school holiday in New York City as bill awaits governor nod

last week , New York The state legislature passed a bill to make Diwali a school holiday in the city before it was postponed. nope ny Senate The assembly voted in favor of the bill before they ended their session on 10 June; The bill now goes to Governor Kathy Hochul who is expected to sign it into law. Two previous attempts to pass the legislation, in 2021 and 2022, failed.
It has fulfilled the dream of the South Asian community when it passed its landmark Bill (A. 7769) to designate Diwali as a woman, said Jennifer Rajkumar, Assemblywoman (D) who introduced the bill. New York City Public school holiday. She said it was the latest victory in a more than two-decade-long battle for Diwali, one of the holiest days of the year for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, to become a school holiday.
Although Diwali is celebrated in the upper echelons of Washington, D.C., including the US Capitol Building and the White House, it is not designated as a national holiday. While Pennsylvania became the first state in the United States to declare Diwali a public holiday, US Congresswoman Grace Meng introduced a bill in the US Congress in May this year to declare Diwali, the festival of lights, a federal holiday. If passed by the US Congress and signed into law by the President, the Diwali Day Act, would make the Festival of Lights the twelfth federally recognized holiday in the United States.
Officially, Pennsylvania became the first US state to declare Diwali a public holiday in April this year. The rest of America has not yet recognized the Festival of Lights as a public holiday. In fact, Pennsylvania was ahead of other US states, such as California, Texas, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, with a large number of American Indians.
“Diwali is one of the most important days of the year for billions of people around the world, and for countless families and communities in Queens, New York and the rest of the United States,” Congresswoman Grace Meng told reporters during a virtual briefing. The conference is shortly after the presentation of the Diwali Bill in the House.
Meanwhile, Michigan State Representative Ranjeev Puri, whose parents immigrated to the US from Amritsar, introduced a bill last week to establish Diwali, Vaishakhi, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Lunar New Year as state-recognized holidays. Michigan.
Assemblywoman Rajkumar, the first South Asian woman and first Hindu American elected to a New York state office, has for the past few months been at the helm in making a Diwali school holiday dream blueprint into reality. Last October, she announced her plan to pass legislation mandating a Diwali school holiday, and hosted a press conference with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks. Over the following months, Rajkumar put together a diverse coalition of stakeholders from all backgrounds across the state for a unified effort in pushing for recognition of Diwali as a school holiday. It brought hundreds to the gathering in Albany, and engaged with all city and state stakeholders to secure the unanimous support of NYC Mayor Adams, Assembly President Carl Hasty, School Chancellor Banks, the United Federation of Educators, the entire New York City Council and New Yorkshire of all faiths and backgrounds, according to a statement. A press release from her office.
New York City Mayor Adams said it was time to say “to our Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist students and communities, we see you and we acknowledge you.” “Inclusivity for this city is very important and this is our chance to say it out loud.”
In passing the bill, the representative echoed the mayor’s voice on the assembly floor: “Tonight our legislature says to hundreds of thousands of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jain Americans across the state, ‘We see you.’ Tonight we say to New Yorkers from India, Guyana, Trinidad, Nepal, and Bangladesh, ‘We recognize you.'” From now on, the school holiday Diwali will be recognized by the largest school authority in the entire country. Tonight we proudly say that Diwali is an American holiday – and that the South Asian community is part of the American story.” As the largest school system in the country, designating New York City schools for the Diwali holiday will set an example for districts nationwide, according to Rajkumar.
Senator Joseph Adabo, co-sponsor of the bill in the Senate, said, “I am grateful to my colleagues in the Senate who have supported passage of the bill (S7475) dedicating a Diwali school holiday in New York City before the end of the Senate legislative session. If approved by Governor Hochul, New York’s growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities will now have the same recognition and residency accorded to those who celebrate other holidays.I admire the significance of Diwali, for showing how light can overcome darkness, and good can overcome evil, a message that celebrates positivity and encouragement.It was an honor Great to work with my colleague and friend Assembly Member Rajkumar, whose compassion and dedication towards her constituents and Diwali is the reason our city will have this school holiday.”