Hindus are still pushing for introducing
Diwali as a school holiday in New Jersey’s Millburn Township School
District (MTSD) despite it receiving only 7.5% of the votes in the recent
Survey.Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today,
said that being in minority did not mean that our kids did not have the same
rights to celebrate their most popular festival with their families like their
fellow students with higher numbers.Zed, who is President of Universal Society
of Hinduism, pointed out that 7.5% was still a considerable number, and urged
the MTSD Board of Education Program Committee to include Diwali as a holiday in
the 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years when they draft calendars
this week.
Rajan Zed requested the MTSD Board of
Education to consider Diwali holiday favorably in its November 24 meeting when the draft calendars would
be presented and then adopt Diwali as a school holiday in the calendars of next
three years in its December 15 meeting. Zed
thanked the efforts of Diwali Petition Leader Padmaja Chinta assisted by
Subadhra Vardharaj, Yashica Shah, Aarti Bajaj, Deepa Krishnan, and Tithi
Majumdar.Zed stressed that Hindu community felt left out in New Jersey as
despite fast changing state demographics and continuing growth of Hindu
populations, only two public school districts had reportedly declared
Diwali as a school holiday. He noted that their ultimate goal was to introduce
Diwali as holiday in all the over 600 school districts of this one of the
most ethnically and religiously diverse states, and the community would
make all out efforts for it. New Jersey should recognize diversity of its
communities as Gujarati, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, etc., are spoken
in its various parts.
Rajan Zed indicated that it was not fair with
Hindu pupils and their families as they had to attend school on their most
popular festival while many schools in the state were closed on holy days of
some other communities. This unfairness did not send a good signal to the
impressionable minds of schoolchildren who would be the leaders of tomorrow; Zed said and added that New
Jersey public school districts needed to urgently revisit their policies
on this issue.
Zed stated that since it was important for
Hindu families to celebrate Diwali day together at home with their
children, we did not want our children to be deprived of any privileges at
the school because of thus resulting absences on this day. Closing schools on
Diwali would ensure that and it would be “a step in the right direction”.
