Sat Ma­haraj

Di­vali has been cel­e­brat­ed by Hin­dus who were brought to Trinidad aboard the SS Fa­tel Raza­ck on May 30, 1845. Since then, it has been an an­nu­al cel­e­bra­tion con­fined to the Hin­du com­mu­ni­ty.

To­day, how­ev­er, Di­vali is be­ing cel­e­brat­ed as a pub­lic hol­i­day in T&T and a num­ber of coun­tries across the world. And even our colonis­ers Great Britain cel­e­brate Di­vali in the House of Com­mons from where de­ci­sions were made about oth­er coun­tries. Many were forced to ac­cept the re­li­gion and cul­ture of those who con­trolled the British House of Com­mons.

At the end of every ma­jor re­li­gious func­tion like Di­vali, the ex­ec­u­tive and pun­dits of the Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha en­gage in an analy­sis of the suc­cess of the cel­e­bra­tion and iden­ti­fy any short­com­ings.This year Di­vali start­ed off with con­tro­ver­sy which I dealt with at the Prime Min­is­ter's Di­vali Din­ner at the Diplo­mat­ic Cen­tre, La Fan­tasie Road, St Ann's on Oc­to­ber 24:

"Di­vali is the on­ly pub­lic hol­i­day that the na­tion ex­tends to the Hin­du com­mu­ni­ty an­nu­al­ly. But Di­vali is no longer a Hin­du re­li­gious cel­e­bra­tion con­fined to the sub-con­ti­nent of In­dia."A num­ber of coun­tries across the world recog­nise this great Hin­du fes­ti­val with a pub­lic hol­i­day. And many coun­tries and lead­ers, in­clud­ing the Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca, recog­nise Di­vali as an im­por­tant oc­ca­sion in the hu­man cal­en­dar.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/dig­i­tal/new-mem­bers