US: New York City Councilwoman Linda Lee passes resolution to make Diwali an official holiday for schools

In a historic move, New York City Councilwoman Linda Lee passed a resolution supporting the Diwali festival to be a holiday for school students.

Lee shared a video where she called upon the Department of Education to recognize Diwali as an official holiday for students in New York. While sharing the video on Twitter, Lee wrote, "We can't fully appreciate #NYC's great diversity of culture when one-fifth of our students must choose between attending class and celebrating traditions with family. Today we passed a historic resolution to call on @NYCSchools to make Diwali an official school holiday!"

New York state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar said on Twitter. Linda Lee also took to her Twitter handle and announced that they have passed a "historic" resolution calling on New York City schools to declare a school holiday on Diwali.

New York Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar tweeted, "BREAKING: People's champion @CMLindaLee passes a resolution supporting the Diwali School Holiday & speaks in support of our Diwali bill A.628." In her remarks, Linda Lee said, "It is an honour and privilege for Council members....and I to pass a resolution today calling upon the Department of Education to recognize Diwali as an official holiday for our students. And I also want to give a heartfelt thankyou and shout out to our amazing colleagues inthis chamber who supported and co-sponsored this legislation."

Lee expressed gratitude to those who supported the bill

Linda Lee expressed gratitude to her colleagues who supported the Bill. She thanked senators Joseph adavo and John Lu who are carrying the bill on the Senate side. She called the decision a "historic step forward" for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members.

"I also want to thank our state colleagues who are carrying this bill. I know we have Assembly Member Jenifer Raj Kumar who's here with us today, carrying it on the assembly side. And thank you to Senators Joseph Adavo and John Lu who are carrying it on the Senate side," Lee said.

"This is not just a victory for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are Hindu, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists who every year have to make the difficult choice between going to school or celebrating an important holiday with their families. But, it is historic step forward for the larger AAPI community of 1.1 million New Yorkers," she said.

Declaring Diwali as holiday will foster understanding and respect for histories and culture

Linda Lee stated declaring school holiday on Diwali will foster the understanding and respect for histories and culture. She said, "I know that the addition of the lunar New Year holiday that was fought for many years was a huge victory for the community, and it was historic. And now adding Diwali will help foster that understanding and respect for our histories and cultures."