STATEWIDE — Hindus are urging New Jersey public and private schools with a significant number of Hindu students to include Diwali, the most popular Hindu holy day, as a school holiday in their 2015-2016 school calendars and beyond.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said in a statement that it was unfair to Hindu pupils and their families who must attend school on their most popular festival while many schools in the state were closed on other religious holidays.
Zed, who is president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that holidays of all major religions should be honored and no one should be penalized for practicing their religion. He stressed that it was important for Hindu families to celebrate Diwali day together at home but did not want children to be deprived of any privileges at school because of absences on this day.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents, said Zed, with about three million Hindus in the U.S. New Jersey has the highest concentration of Hindus of any state in the country. Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists. The holiday falls on Nov. 11 in 2015.
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