US President Joe Biden hosted a Diwali celebration at the White House on Monday. More than 600 eminent Indian Americans, including Congressmen, officials and corporate executives from across the country, participated in the Diwali celebration at the White House.
“As President, I have had the honor of hosting the largest Diwali receptions ever held at the White House. For me it means a lot. As Senator, Vice President and President; South Asian Americans have been key members of my staff. From Kamala to Dr. Murthy and many of you here today, I am proud to have kept my commitment to having an administration that looks like America,” the President of the United States said in an East Room of the White House, filled with people standing
Kamala Harris skips White House Diwali celebration
Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden were unable to attend the Diwali celebration at the President’s House. The duo was busy with the presidential election campaign.
Diwali message from the International Space Station
Biden’s remarks were preceded by Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, surgeon general of the United States; Sunita Williams, a retired Navy officer and NASA astronaut who sent a recorded video message from the International Space Station and Shrusti Amula, a young Indian-American activist who introduced the president.
“In late November 2016, a dark cloud of hatred and hostility formed toward immigrants, including South Asian Americans. We heard it once again in 2024. That’s when Jill and I hosted the first Diwali reception and it was at the vice president’s residence. An Irish Catholic president, vice president at the time, opened our home for Christmas celebrations by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and more. How America reminds us all of our power to be the light, to all of us,” he said.
The South Asian American community has enriched every aspect of American life, said Biden, who lit the formal diya in the Blue Room of the White House.
Joe Biden’s Diwali speech: ‘A journey of light’
“That’s the truth. “This is one of the fastest growing and most engaged communities in the country that we are in right now,” he said.
“On this day in the United States, we think about that journey of light. At the beginning of our nation’s founding, a generation before diya, under the shadow of suspicion, now in a time when Diwali is celebrated openly and proudly here at the White House. We also know that today we are facing a turning point,” he said.
One of those rare moments that only happen once every few generations, where the decisions we make today will determine the future to come for decades, literally. Each generation has been called to move us forward, to be the nation we say we are. But only once every few generations are we reminded that we should not take the idea of America for granted, because it is never guaranteed. That time is now, Biden said.
“American democracy has never been easy. In a country as diverse as ours, we debate, we disagree while we forge a path through compromise and consensus. But the key is that we never lose sight of how we got here and why. For me, 50 years of public service comes with clarity of trust in America. “We are a nation with a heart, a soul that drinks from the old and the new,” he said.
“In the United States, everything is profound, especially the courage to serve and protect, to heal and bear witness, to immigrate, to dare to dream.
During my presidency, I have tried to channel that American spirit by putting into practice all my experiences and wisdom gained from it, and help us overcome one of the most difficult periods in our nation’s recent history, and be a bridge between generations. , as in memory and imagination,” Biden said.
(With PTI inputs)
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