By P Singh | Malaysia | Letter to Editor |
I miss the Deepavali celebrations that we all have greatly enjoyed. For us, growing up in Malaysia, to completely accept it as our [celebration], will remain so in my mainframe forever.
Come 1984, due to a political decision made by Indira Gandhi, we the Sikhs begun our silent slip and slide which has now lead us to an almost complete exodus from Deepavali celebrations, replaced by the Bandi Chor instead.
Why must one harmonious race become an enemy of another due to ONE political decision?
History is overwhelmingly laden with wars, tyrannies, dictatorships, dynasties, rulers, kings and regimental colonialism. What simple lesson can we learn from these thousands of years of historical events? For me, it teaches me not to rationally react to the political will, political ramifications and their relevant repercussions which naturally will spike and insinuate violence, bloodshed…
Simple mindsets changes will and can easily steer us away from being captivated by these ongoing political tyrants who will keep on coughing nothing else but stale germs on our evergreen and innocent flesh.
I have sort of stopped reading and watching the news because it only ferments hatred, jealousy and revenge.
Right and wrong of a political will and its decisions should never ever entice us to nod an approval to amend centuries of historic cultural events and their cheerful happy values such as Deepavali firmly holds .
I LOVE the multi-racial, muhibbah community celebration spirit we Malaysian are born and blessed with. It’s a precious privilege which teaches us to value multi-cultural values and accept each other’s values and faiths.
RELATED STORY:
Bandi Chhor Divas – Sikh Divali: The harbinger of Enlightenment and Freedom (Asia Samachar, 21 Oct 2019)
Diwali and Sikhi: An article from The Sikh Bulletin (Asia Samachar, 31 Oct 2016)
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