The annual India Day Parade here on Sunday will feature four floats representing the nation’s religions and symbolising its “unity in diversity”, but some Muslim and other groups are protesting the inclusion of the Hindu tableau because it depicts the Ayodhya Temple.
The organisers have rejected the protests as against the spirit of the celebration of the Independence of the world’s largest democracy and a pluralistic nation.
“There is no place for hate” and “we believe in unity and diversity and all faiths will be represented,” Avinash Gupta, the President of the tri-state chapter of the Federation of India Day Associations (FIA), which is organising the parade, told IANS.
“We welcome all religions and all ethnic organisations to participate in the parade,” he said.
“So you will see not only a Ram Mandir float, but also a Muslim float and a Sikh float and a Christian float.”
The parade’s VIP Guest will be the Indian actor Zahir Iqbal.
This will be the 42nd edition of the New York event, which has drawn about 100,000 people, is the largest parade celebrating India’s Independence.
The Hindu float will feature a replica of the Ayodhya Temple opened last year at the site of Hindu divinity Lord Ram’s birth.
At a protest with about 20 people outside the City Hall, Indian American Muslim Council’s (IAMC), Husnaa Vhora, said, “A float celebrating the construction of the Ram Temple would be divisive and runs counter to the values of NYC.”
“Public celebrations should not include symbols of divisiveness or bigotry,” she asserted.
She was joined at the protest by representatives of the Sikh Coalition, New York Council of Churches, Federation of Indian American Churches of North America, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Hindus for Human Rights (HHR), Black Lives Matter, and other groups.
IAMC, HHR, and some others wrote to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams against the Hindu float at the parade, calling it a symbol of “Muslim hate, bigotry”.
Asked about the controversy at his news conference, Adams said, “I want to send the right symbolic gesture that the city is open to everyone and there’s no room for hate. And if there is a float or a person in the parade that is promoting hate, they should not.”
And he went on to talk about his “record on standing up on behalf of the Muslim community, probably a record that’s more impressive than any of the elected officials” and veered off to criticise Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
But he did not explicitly condemn the parade or the Hindu float.
Hochul has not reacted to the letter.
He said that although he marched in the parade last year, he was not invited to this year’s event.
Gupta said, “The temple was built after a wait of 500 years, after a protracted legal thing going all the way up to highest court of the land, the Supreme Court.”
“It was lawfully built, (and a) historical wrong was corrected,” he added.
Asked if he was concerned about disruptions at the parade, Gupta said that he did not expect any problems because “our people who are participating in the parade, they are very peaceful, very respectful to other religions and other traditions”.
He added that the parade will be under the city’s protection.
In 1993, a Pakistani man opened fire at the parade celebrations, seriously injuring a man of Indian origin.
India Day celebrations will start with a flag-hoisting at Times Square and the parade that follows will go up Madison Avenue, concluding with a celebration featuring cultural events, entertainment and Indian food.
The Empire State Building will be lit with the Indian tricolours at night.
The chief guest at the parade will be Swami Adveshanand Giri, the head of the Juna Akhada, which the FIA said is the oldest and largest organisation of sanyasis.
Actor Sonali Sinha is billed as the Grand Marshal of the parade.