Washington: After Vice-President Kamala Harris introduced President Joe Biden at the biggest-ever event to mark Diwali at the White House on Monday evening, the US President walked on to the podium, saw two children in the audience in the front, called them up to the stage, and said, “This is my impression of light.”
The audience, which included Indian-American political and community leaders, including Congressman Ro Khanna, whose children Biden had called up, erupted in applause.
As Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Harris marked the event in White House, it was just one of the many Diwali celebrations across the US in a sign of both the growing recognition of Indian-Americans and their traditions as well as their political strength.
Last week, Harris had hosted a select group of Indian-Americans at her vice-presidential residence for Diwali; on Wednesday, secretary of state Antony Blinken is hosting a Diwali event. Former president Donald Trump hosted a Diwali celebration at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with his Indian-American supporters on Friday. The mayors of Washington DC and New York have held events, with New York declaring that Diwali will be a public school holiday in the city from 2023. And dozens of state governors, Senators, Congressmen wished the community to mark the festival.
The fact that midterm elections for all seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the seats in the Senate, along with key state-level gubernatorial and legislative races, are scheduled for November 8 is also seen as a trigger for the active effort to reach out to the community. Indian-Americans are seen as a swing constituency in many key states and have been active donors to both parties.
In his remarks, Biden first acknowledged his Vice-President, the first Indian-American to get elected to the office. Harris had credited her mother, the Chennai-born Shyamala Gopalan Harris, for her success and had recalled her childhood visits to India to celebrate Diwali, spending time with her grandparents, and marking it with sparklers. “It is because of her dedication, her determination, and her courage that I stand before you as Vice-President of the United States.”
Biden lauded the courage it took the VP’s mother, and others in the room, to move their families, begin their journey to the US, make sacrifices, and believe in America as a singular place of possibilities. “To make old traditions anew and to tell the ongoing story of America, a story that is firmly stamped in the Indian American and South Asian American experience. That’s why we are here today.”
Biden also recognised surgeon general Vivek Murthy and the four Indian-American representatives in the US Congress – Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthy, who were in the White House, and Pramila Jayapal and Amy Bera, who couldn’t make it – and thanked them for their leadership.
Biden recalled that as Vice-President, he had hosted the first Diwali celebration at the Naval Observatory – the VP’s official residence – in November 2016, at a time of darkness “from an election of shadow and suspicion”. Donald Trump had just got elected to office that month in a surprise win. Biden said, “Immigrant families were vilified and shamed as we, as a prelude to what was to come at the time. Yet, that night, that Diwali night, we gathered together to cast a light of hope and belonging and purpose…It was a gathering of light.”
The president said this was the first Diwali “of this scale in this house ever to be held”, adding that his administration had more Asian-Americans than at any point in history and he wanted to send a message to everyone in the audience and fellow Americans marking this sacred holiday.
“It’s a simple message: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for making this celebration of Diwali such a joyous part of American culture.” Biden spoke about how the festival was marked by opening homes and hearts, exchanging gifts and sweets, hosting feasts for family and friends and organising cultural events. “You know, through all that you contribute, as well beyond, in every part of American life. Thank you for reflecting the soul of who we are as a nation.”
Defining the soul as optimism, courage, truth, knowledge, empathy, Biden said that was the essence of South Asian community across the US. “Helping us emerge stronger from this pandemic. Building an economy that works for everyone. Teaching our children and caring for our elders. Responding to the cry for action on climate. Working to fix our immigration system. Defending rights and freedoms. Building a more just and equitable country. Serving and protecting our communities and our nation. Informing, entertaining, inspiring.”
Biden, however, acknowledged that this was not a story only of light and there was darkness lurking beneath, “as this community has experienced much too often”. “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal to the harsh reality that racism and fear have long torn us apart”. He said that hate hides, until it is given oxygen and prejudiced speak it, and flagged the rising threat of violent extremism.
“Diwali is a reminder that each of us has the power to dispel darkness and bring light to the world. It’s a choice,” Biden said, adding that this was true in the life of a democracy, whether in US or for families in India “marking 75 years of independence”.
From his acknowledgment of India’s independence, Biden turned to the political change in what was once the capital of the Empire. “And whether it’s the United Kingdom, where just today we have gotten news that Rishi Sunak is now prime minister. As my brother would say, ‘Go figure’. And the Conservative Party…Pretty astounding. A groundbreaking milestone. And it matters. It matters.”
The US President reiterated that the current moment reflected an inflection point, and decisions taken now would shape the future. He urged the community to continue remaining engaged. “We need you to help fulfil the promise of this nation – the same promise of opportunity and equality that brought you and your families here in the first place.”
