14^th November 2021 – A Calgary based Hindu organization, International Hindu Foundation, is demanding that Diwali be declared as a federal holiday in Canada.

The online petition at https://chng.it/k5hw7zzrRR which was started off a little over a week back has gathered over 11,300 signatures at the time of writing this news. The petition notes that ‘a significant population in Canada which immigrated from India, Fiji, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Guyana, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Singapore, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago celebrate this festival of lights to honor its cultural heritage.’

According to estimates, there are over 1.1 M Hindus living in Canada. The online petition further states that the ‘Indian diaspora works in federal, provincial and private sector’ and they should be given a chance to celebrate this festival with their families and friends. The change.org petition has been directed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Calgary Jyoti Gondek.