Australia’s Indian community have renewed calls for people to given the day off to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, just like Easter, Christmas and Australia Day.
The festival of lights, also known as Deepavali, will be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of Indian Australians on Friday.
Hindu Council of Australia President Sai Paravastu said the annual event should be recognised as a holiday or a long weekend across the country.
‘This would give (others) an opportunity to use the one day off to understand what these people are doing and they can visit our temples to see what we do,’ he told Nine News.
‘It gives them the opportunity to understand us more.’
Federal Labor MP for Parramatta, in Sydney‘s west, Andrew Charlton backed calls for Aussies to celebrate Diwali as a public holiday in a parliamentary speech last month.
‘From Darwin to Hobart, people right across Australia celebrate Diwali as one of the most joyous events of the year and the reason for that is because behind all the colour and movement and lights and food and celebration, Diwali is a recognition of fundamental values,’ Mr Charlton said.
‘It’s what has made the Indian diaspora in Australia such an incredibly important part of the Australian community and so today is a good opportunity to recognise the importance of Diwali in the Australian annual calendar.’
Diwali is celebrated among Hindus by lighting candles and lamps outside their homes and symbolises how light triumphs over darkness.
The event is usually marked for five days in India and people gather together to share food and gifts.
The Indian-born population is the second largest migrant community in Australia according to figures from the Department of Home Affairs.
As of June 2022, there were 753,520 people born in India living in Australia, which is more than double the number recorded a decade earlier.
The move comes as calls continue to grow to recognise festivals such as Eid and Lunar New Year as public holidays to celebrate Australia’s multicultural communities.
Figures from the 2021 Census revealed that around ten per cent of Australia’s population reported being affiliated with a religion other than Christianity.
A report written for the Lowy Institute indicated that the inclusion of more public holidays celebrating various festivals is an appropriate way to recognise Australia’s diverse communities.
‘As our population becomes increasingly diverse, we should be recognising many other significant cultural and religious days as public holidays to reflect this change,’ the report stated.
