Consulates of India, Nepal and Guyana join the Indian origin community in celebrations
QUEENS, NY (TIP): Queens lived up to its reputation of being culturally and ethnicallythe most diverse borough of the country on November 8 when the Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz hosted the Diwali festival at the large Gujarati Samaj auditorium. Though essentially the festival of the Hindus, one could see in the gathering people from various faiths and ethnicities celebrating the festival of lights.
Queens is home to a large number of Hindus from India, the west Indies and elsewhere. Over the years the Hindu community has steadily made inroads into politics with quite a few of them having been elected. A Hindu Jennifer Rajkumar is a New York State Assemblywoman. Recently, Krishnan was elected a New York City Councilmember. A budding Hindu politician is Dilip Chauhan. And, a good part is the community has understood well the need to have allies. Hence, there is a close working relationship which exists between all ethnic and religious groups whether the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Jains, the Moslems, the Jews, the Christians, the Buddhists. And the credit for the communal and social cohesion goes in part to the administration. Melinda’s Diwali festival celebration is one such example.
The simple word for the Queens DA Diwali celebration is “excellent”. The event was very well organized with the minutest details taken care of. The entire program from the prayers and lamp lighting to the remarks by the dignitaries to the cultural presentations, all wentoffvery well. The organizers did wonders with the event. I have only superlatives for the program and program organizers.
Melinda Katz spoke of the multicultural mosaic of the Borough of Queens and praised the residents for their contribution, even as she congratulated and thanked the organizers of the event, her staff, the Gujarati Samaj for their support, the dignitaries which included Vishnu Prasad Gautam, Consul General of Nepal, Fazal Yussuf, Advisor to Consulate General of Guyana, and Vipul Dev, Consul, Political and PIC from Consulate General of India, for their gracious presence, the politicians present which included Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar and others, the priests from various shrines who offered prayers, the participants in the various cultural events and their parents, and the gathering. Those who addressed the gathering included Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar, Vishnu Prasad Gautam, Consul General of Nepal, Fazal Yussuf, Advisor to Consulate General of Guyana, and Vipul Dev, Consul, Political and PIC from Consulate General of India, The cultural program presented by various groups thrilled the gathering.
Rokeya Akhtar, the DA’s Community Liaison officer, Malini Shah and Somnath Ghimire worked in close cooperation to make the event the success it became.