Around the world in Diwali stamps
In 2016, the 2.5 million-strong Indian-american community in the US won a major victory. After campaigning for two decades, which included garnering the support of three Democrat legislators, Carolyn B Maloney, Ami Bera, and Grace Meng, the US Postal Service, which gets around 40,000 requests for issuing stamps to highlight various issues and accepts 25, finally released a special Diwali stamp.
The beauty of the 2016 campaign was that it went beyond being a demand of the Indian-americans. “It is not about the celebration of a religion or a nation. It is about universal values of inclusiveness,” Ranju Batra, chair, Diwali Stamp Project, had told the media back then. Once the sale of the stamp, the first to commemorate Hinduism, was announced, it opened the floodgates of demand. Five people ordered stamps worth $10,000, and soon postal offices ran out of stock. Over 20 countries supported the gesture to commemorate the release of the stamp. In 2018, the United Nations Postal Administration issued a special stamp sheet to commemorate Diwali. Each stamp sheet has 10 stamps with diyas and lights in various colours
“The struggle between Good & Evil happens everyday @UN. Thank you @Unstamps for portraying our common quest for the triumph of Good over Evil in your 1st set of Diwali stamps on the occasion of the auspicious Festival of Lights,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, had tweeted. Over the years, many other nations, which have a strong Indian diaspora, such as Singapore, Australia, and Canada have also issued Diwali stamps.
“The issuance of stamps signifies the importance of India and its culture. It also spreads the deeper message of the festival, which is about togetherness and joy,” says Rajesh Kumar Bagri, secretary general, the Philatelic Congress of India.