[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) says it supports the call of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha that November 11, 2015 be the date for celebration of Deepavali/Diwali in Guyana and demands an end to political interference in religious affairs.
A press statement from the Party noted that Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan has dealt a “devastating and irrevocable blow to the government which he is part of” by signing November 10 as the date for the observance of the Hindu Holiday.
“From all indications, Ramjattan was picked by the APNU to make this unpopular decision to bring the AFC and its principal leaders into disrepute and to make the AFC unpopular among Indo-Guyanese in general, the Hindu community is particular,” the statement noted.
The PPP believes that Ramjattan’s decision was “clearly a political act on the part of the APNU+AFC by inserting themselves in the long-held religious and cultural traditions of our country.”
The Party noted that before the beginning of each calendar year, the Minister of Home Affairs is provided with a list of holiday dates to be observed throughout the country for the incoming year and long before the May 2015 elections, the former Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, had signed off November 11 as the Diwali Holiday.
The PPP is now demanding that the political date given as a national holiday be withdrawn forthwith and that November 11, 2015 be declared the national holiday as agreed and reflected in all calendars issued in the national territory of Guyana.
There is huge misunderstanding but the logic is Hindus use the dark night in the month of kartik. Now a day must have a morning and evening so even though the cycle begin on the 10th Diwali day will be the 11th simply because we need a morning and evening. Same principle apply for holi. If the moon full in the morning holi is the following day. We have to wait till the moon full before we burn the holi ka.
Blackhorse your commentary has no merit. PPP/C may not be in power however they are the official Opposition with 32 seats in the house. Your Colation won by 1 seat or in this case 1 vote in Region 2. We have been saying all along if a recount was granted they PPP/C would have won this Election. They were simply denied a recount which is a democratic right. This is unheard of in any democratic country. The May 11th elections (regional & national) were fixed in favour of this Colation and supported by the Americans due to oil money. Again this Government will continue to labelled as Defacto.
I am not a supporter of the PNC, never will be and the demagoguery of the AFC leaves much to be desired apart from the downright lies and deceit. But I will readily admit to the fact that despite the circumstances of this regime being lobbed into power I sincerely felt that they would be best in enforcing the rule of law and paradoxically route out the low level corruption which became a way of life that crept in under the PNC and which took a stranglehold on the population !!!! To now have this type of dictate I am beginning to believe that they are not socially conscious administrators and this seems to be angling towards high handedness and authoritativeness in an area of life they out not to go into. Having said so I will clarify that I firmly believe that all governments in our part of the solar system has to manage with authority and enforcement…. Burnham went too far…. this regime should not to follow in his footsteps…. they are fighting the same odds that overtook PPP and the PPP/C regime….
You people just wasting your time by challenging this and that. Don’t you realise that you have no say in the mangement of that country.
My Demerara Bank Issued Calendar has the date as November 10? Was it printed in Trinidad..How could the darkest night be two different days? Where did the Minister get the 10th from. He could not have pulled it from space. Which date is the holiday being celebrated in Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago?
Come on people stop making every issue political and racial.