Paras Ramoutar
TRINIDAD, October 22, 2006: Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister,Patrick Manning, feels that the Hindu festival of Diwali, Saturday October 21, a public holiday, brings the people together. In his annual Diwali message to more than 500,000 East Indians, with about 350,000 of them Hindus, Manning said that while it is the most important religious event of our Hindu community, it also serves to bring the people of our national community together. “The festival of lights is undoubtedly the most spectacular and popular celebration observed by Hindus around the world,” Manning added. Manning said that the wonderful moments of love, togetherness and appreciation provided by this and other religious observances shared by our national community, actually work to counter divisiveness, imploring our citizens to work together in peace and harmony. Manning said that Diwali symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. “It is also about the prevailing of knowledge over ignorance. All this reflects the wealth and depth of religious and philosophical ideas that characterize Hindu thought and culture.”