Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that Diwali being the most important Hindu holy day, it was important for Hindu families to celebrate Diwali day together at home with their children.
Currently only Easter and Christmas are observed as religious public holidays in New Zealand and there are no public holidays covering festivals of other religious groups.
Human Rights Commission (HRC) of New Zealand, in a draft titled “Freedom of religion and belief” published recently, says: “Schools face a number of issues in respecting the religious diversity of pupils. These range from wearing religious attire or other symbols (for example, Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish yarmulke, Christian cross, taonga Mäori) to the content of the curriculum and classes”.
It further points out: “There continue to be instances of hate crimes, such as the vandalism of mosques and temples, desecration of Jewish graves and verbal abuse or threatening behaviour towards people wearing religious attire, such as a hijab or turban”.
Although New Zealand is a secular State with no State religion, yet prayers of the majority religion often formed a part of public ceremonials. Parliament still opened with a prayer with a wording that is Christian in nature. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested that guest chaplains from various religions and denominations should be invited to read the opening prayer, thus each day starting with a new prayer. This practice would substantiate the freedom of worship enjoyed across the nation, he added.
There have been significant changes in New Zealand’s demographics in the recent years, with marked increase in religious diversity. In 2006 census, people with “no religion” amounted to over 32 percent and besides various denominations of Christianity; there were considerable number of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, etc., in the country.
An HRC release says: More educational resources about religious diversity are needed. Respect for religious diversity could be further enhanced by the development of a national structure for interfaith dialogue, guidelines for managing religious diversity in the workplace, health services and other domains, and the development of educational resources to teach about religious diversity in the school curriculum.
Rajan Zed, however, thanked the New Zealand Parliament for holding official reception to mark Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and the HRC, which, in conjunction with the Victoria University Religious Studies Programme, was preparing guidelines on religious diversity in the workplace for employers and employees.
Meanwhile, Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening, stressing the need of public holiday on Diwali, said that with this about 70,000 Hindu-New Zealanders would feel equal partners in large New Zealand family.