By Suchitra Srinivas
Washington: Diwali could soon be a federal holiday in the US, promised Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney at the Diwali celebration here Tuesday to honor the lawmakers of Indian origin.
Indiaspora, a non-profit organization, organized the power packed event in the U.S. Capitol Rayburn House Office Building, bringing in leaders from both sides of the aisle to light the lamp, the traditional Diwali festival gesture symbolizing the victory of good over evil.
Maloney, a friend of India, in her remarks said that she plans to introduce legislation to make Diwali a federal holiday. Having helped with making the Diwali stamp a reality in 2016, the US Rep from New York, pointed out that it was one of the highest selling stamps bringing mega dollars to USPS. To her credit also goes introducing a bill this August to honor Mahatma Gandhi with the Congressional gold medal, the highest civilian honor in the country.
M R Rangaswami, founder and Executive Director of Indiaspora, said that impressively increasing numbers of Indian Americans are entering public service, breaking the tradition of being just doctors, engineers or IT professionals. In the 2020 election, over 300 Indian Americans ran for office at various levels. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy called for more Indian Americans to run for office, “No matter winning or losing, just fighting for the right reasons is more important.”
Besides Raja, the other three members of Congress of Indian heritage, Ami Bera, Vice Chair of the India Caucus in the House Ro Khanna and Chair of Progressives caucus Pramila Jayapal, spoke about what Diwali meant to them and their call to public service.
The Biden administration has at least 80 Indian Americans serving in different positions.
Those participating in the Indiaspora event included Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy, and Neera Tanden, Staff Secretary in the White House. Congress members included James Clyburn, House Majority Whip, Steve Chabot, Co-Chair of House India Caucus; Judy Chu, Chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Al Green and Tim Ryan.
The grand welcome of dignitaries in the traditional Indian way with garlands set the festive mood. The event began with the recitation of hymns from Vedas and other interfaith prayers. Actress and singer Mary Millben performed “Om Jai Jagdish Hare”.
Invitees were clad in Indian festive attire. Colorful silk sarees and kurtas reverberated the rise of Indian voices in public service in the US. The event saluted those choosing to work at every level — as school board members, state legislators, staff members working in the Congress and city halls beyond Washington.
