The National Council on Indian Culture (NCIC) is calling on the Education Ministry and the Government to investigate an incident in which a primary school pupil was reportedly discriminated against because she had mehindi (Hindi body artwork using henna) on her hands. The call was made by NCIC president Deokienanan Sharma as the curtains came down on the nine-day Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Wednesday night.
Addressing the audience, which included Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and several Cabinet ministers, Sharma told them he had received some disturbing news. He said the pupil who attended a San Fernando school visited Divali Nagar the previous night and had Mehindi done on her hands. He said after she went to school the following day, her parents got a telephone call from the officials to come and take her home because of the mehindi on her hands. “The mother of the child was told mehindi was not part of her uniform. “The child was discriminated against because she put Mehindi on her hands.”
Sharma was also disturbed by a report carried by a television station stating that Cepep workers were used to clean toilets and do other work at the Divali Nagar and were given no food. Sharma said the job was tendered out and Cepep was the lowest bidder. He said the workers were officially contracted by the NCIC. Sharma also made a second appeal to the Government for assistance to complete the main building at the Divali Nagar site. The NCIC was later that night given a $2 million cheque by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Sharma told her it would come in handy to pay their bills.
Sharma said this year’s Divali Nagar was better than the previous events and noted there were several innovations. They included expanding the queen competition to the Caribbean and Florida. There are plans to take it to Indian Diaspora countries around the world, including Mauritius, he said. Seeking to show the inclusivity of the Indian festival, Sharma said at a previous Divali Nagar, the cultures of Africa, the Middle East and China were celebrated. Sharma said he hoped the Government’s support of culture would continue, not only for the NCIC but all other groups in the country.