A Minnesota city plans not to schedule public meetings on Diwali

From Our Correspondent

Edina (USA) : Edina City Council in Minnesota (USA) is proposing a policy to create a public meeting schedule which does not conflict with holidays/observances of various religions, including popular Hindu festival of Diwali.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, applauded the Edina City Council for their inclusive approach, calling it “a step in the right direction”. He asked other city councils in USA and Canada to follow this pattern because of growing diversity in their populations.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said it was important for Hindu families to celebrate Diwali and other festivals together at home and the City not scheduling public meetings on these dates would ensure that. Besides creating awareness about “other” religions, this policy would bring cohesion and unity in the community.

City Manager Scott Neal, in a Blog on official City website, wrote that they “want to create a public meeting schedule that does not contain as many out-right conflicts with significant days of religious observance in order that all citizens in the community – regardless of religion – are afforded the opportunity to participate in major community decision making opportunities”.

Neal further wrote—the religious observance days we’re going to avoid scheduling public meetings on in the future are the following: Good Friday, Christmas Eve, First Night of Rosh Hashanah, First Night of Yom Kippur, First Night of Passover, First Night of Hanukkah, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, Diwali.

Rajan Zed urged the City to include other major Hindu festivals like Dussehra, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, etc., also on this list.

Edina, incorporated in 1888 and one of the most affluent suburbs of Minneapolis, is home to some billionaires like Best Buy founder Richard M. Schulze, a Hindu temple named Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple, three places listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 44 parks; runs municipal liquor stores (others not allowed); and in popular culture of the state is known as acronym for "Every Day I Need Attention". Prominent people associated with it include baseball player Ike Davis, footballer Adam Goldberg, Olympian Jenny Potter, beauty queens Dorothy Benham and Barbara Peterson, golfer Hilary Lunke, hockey icon Bill Nyrop, singer Craig Finn and actress Lynsey Bartilson. James B. Hovland is the Mayor.