Dear Editor,
This year’s Diwali celebrations were marred by attacks on the festival. The terror unleashed in Alexander Village on Diwali night is an indictment not only of the ability of the security forces to protect citizens, but also a sign of how, despite years of Diwali in Guyana, some sections of the population are determined to stop the celebration.

The government has to respond to the issues of the squibs and firecrackers entering Guyana illegally and being sold on open markets. The Commissioner of Police should account to the public for the failure of the police to stop the terror. 

For some reason, some Hindu Guyanese believe Diwali is an ‘Indian’ Christmas, and that it is a time for the hedonism which is now associated with that festival. Ranging from beauty pageants, to ‘washdowns’ and similar events, some people want Diwali to be free from any spiritual values and to be a completely commercial celebration with some token reference to anything of worth. This should not be tolerated and is definitely against the belief and wishes of many Hindus and Hindu organisations in Guyana and internationally also.

The attack on Alexander Village stems from the kind of hatred and intolerance which marked the painting over of the diyas and rangoli on the Camp Street Avenue a few years ago when the first Diwali Galee was held.

The attack on the Mandir at Alexander Village, and the attempt to stop the lighting up, can only come from those whose lives are so consumed by darkness that any light is seen as a threat. Is it that the lit-up Mandir was seen as a symbol of oppression or enmity to them, a symbol of what some commentators have referred to as Hindu triumphalism?

How we celebrate each other’s festivals is important. This year, the Diwali motorcade was beautiful. Yet, on the seawalls, the liquor vendors did brisk trade, while the big screen video near Sheriff Street showed the music videos with the near naked women and men. At one point, two older women were showing some young girls how to do the dances which are supposed to proclaim their sexuality. All of this happening not far away from where the floats were passing with bhajans, and children were participating in the depictions of the meaning of Diwali. This occasion on the night before Diwali sees many families from all walks of life coming out on the seawall, from the young and innocent to the mature. Are these the kind of actions we want to portray when it is the time of year for purity and decency to prevail?

Sanatan Dharma is eternal. Diwali’s message of light can be from Maulana Rumi, the great mystic in the Islamic tradition:

“The lamps are different, but the light is the same; It comes from beyond.
If you keep looking at the lamp,
Thou art lost.
For thence arises number and plurality.
Fix your gaze upon the Light.”
That light is what could unite us.
Yours faithfully,
Keeran Persaud