Bills introduced in Michigan to recognise Diwali, Eid as official holidays
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Apr, 2023 11:06 AM
New York, April 28 (IANS) Three legislators, including an Indian-American, in the Michigan State House have introduced a set of bills to establish festivals like Diwali and Eid as official state-recognised holidays.
Led by Majority Floor Leader in the House, Abraham Aiyash, and state representatives Ranjeev Puri and Sharon MacDonell, introduced the legislation to make Diwali, Vaisakhi, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Lunar New Year as official holidays in Michigan.
House Bills 4446 and 4449, introduced by Puri, establish Diwali and Vaisakhi as state holidays.
"Celebrating our cultural diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant and inclusive society. By recognising these holidays, we are not only showing our respect and appreciation for the traditions and beliefs of our fellow Michiganders, but we are also sending a powerful message of inclusion and unity," Puri said.
A Hindu religious festival, Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, and Vaisakhi is a spring harvest festival celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs, a statement released by Michigan House Democrats read.
"These bills embrace the diverse fabric of our state by recognising various religious and cultural holidays," Aiyash said, introducing Bill 4447, which calls for Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr as state holidays.
"Making these holidays official state holidays will let Michigan's many communities know that they have a place in our great state and deserve to celebrate their joyous occasions like everyone else."
At present, Michigan has 12 officially recognised holidays, including Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year, Juneteenth, and Martin Luther King Jr Day among the notable ones.
Close to 900,000 Asian Americans live in Michigan, with Indian-Americans making up the largest subgroup, according to Indian American Impact.
Most South Asians reside in Detroit and the surrounding area, in places like Troy, Novi, and Farmington Hills.
Recently, Pennsylvania declared Diwali as a national holiday after senators, Greg Rothman and Nikil Saval introduced a legislation in February this year.
Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, was elected as the Conservative MP for Wakefield in West Yorkshire in 2019, Sky News reported. He had been working on a project funded by the UK Foreign Office at the time of the alleged incident in November 2010.
The man from the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg, whose name was not released in line with German privacy rules, is said to have received up to 90 shots against COVID-19 at vaccination centers in the eastern state of Saxony for months until criminal police caught him this month, the German news agency dpa reported Sunday.
The jump in reported deaths, up from 33,000 last week, was due mainly to an accounting change; WHO noted that countries including Chile and the United States altered how they define COVID-19 deaths.
More than a dozen United Sikhs volunteers from the US, Germany and the UK have set up a relief base camp in Medyka (Poland) close to the Ukrainian border. At least 1,00,000 refugees have been served by the United Sikhs' humanitarian mission till date and the relief work is continuing.
As coronavirus infections rise in some parts of the world, experts are watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the U.S. — and wondering how long it will take to detect. Despite disease monitoring improvements over the last two years, they say, some recent developments don't bode well.
