No 10 is slammed over shelving Diwali
ANGER has arisen among religious communities who have accused the government of implementing an ‘institutionally racist’ plan which saw religious celebrations such as Eid and
Diwali sacrificed in favour of Christmas.
The second national lockdown was put into place on November 6 for four weeks with a view to save Christmas.
During this time more than 1.6 million people in the UK missed out on celebrating the five-day Festival of Lights, which began on November 14.
Diwali is one of the main festivals celebrated by Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhists.
Families and friends missed out on meeting up to celebrate due to the lockdown measures, instead being forced to get together online.
The government’s plan to ease restrictions for five days for Christmas, allowing up to three households to get together to celebrate comes as a ‘huge kick in the face’ to those who missed out on their celebrations only a few weeks previous.
Nasim, who lives in Dewsbury said: “We have sacrificed our celebrations to help reduce the spread of coronavirus for the sake of Christmas.
“I usually have a big family celebration, this year I had to stay at home with no visitors and could not go anywhere with my child, it had a massive negative impact on her mental health due to being in lockdown since March.
“I feel that the Asian population are being penalised and are being blamed for the spread of the virus, however, it was okay for the pubs to be open and for families to mix then.
“I believe our governments are racist, their management and ideals are a disgrace. The ‘eat out to help out’ scheme was pointless, as this was another cause of the rise in the infection rate, yet it is only us that suffer.”
Earlier in the year, many were forced to cancel plans to celebrate Eid when lockdown was enforced in certain parts of northern England only hours before it was due to begin. The measures were introduced hastily at the start of the annual Eid al-Adha ‘feast of sacrifice’, with people in the areas affected told not to socialise with other households at home or in gardens.
Accusations were levelled at Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, that the action was directly aimed at curtailing Eid celebrations when he tweeted the news at 9.16pm the evening prior.
Following the announcement, ‘Christmas Eve’ began trending on Twitter as social media users talked about the impact on Muslim families and questioned whether the government would have made the same announcement the night before Christmas.
Nasim added: “It was very frustrating as most of us have stuck to the rules and have not mixed with family, it was a disappointment and had a negative impact on mental health.
“Especially for the children who were excited to see family and friends as they had not been able to attend school and socialise.” The 36 year-old does not yet know whether she intends to use the ‘Christmas loophole’ to socialise with family and friends and while she is pleased for others, she is disappointed they were not given the same courtesy.