When Boris Johnson announced the second national lockdown for England, and expressed hope the actions would be enough to save Christmas, Dhruv Upadhyaya felt insulted.
Dhruv, from Leicester, is just one of tens of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs across England who would normally be celebrating the festival of Diwali this weekend.
“Covid-19 has highlighted the elephant in the room – that people from ethnic minorities are treated differently and are only ‘British’ when they want us to be,” the 33-year-old said.
“I am not angry about the fact that we are in national lockdown as that is the right thing to do.
“But it is really insulting to make it sound like they are doing this lockdown now to save Christmas and have just swept the issue of Diwali under the carpet.”
Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world, and is seen as a triumph of good over evil and new beginnings.
Across the country, people have told HuffPost UK at their frustration and disappointment at their festival being ignored.
Karishma Champaneria who lives in Ibstock, Leicestershire, loves celebrating Christmas. But she feels the sacrifices being made over Diwali needs to be acknowledged.
“I personally felt disheartened when Boris Johnson announced the second lockdown and did not even mention Diwali, but talked about Christmas,” Karishma, 26, said.
“Diwali is in the middle of lockdown and is such a huge celebration for so many people in this country. I feel the government should have acknowledged it and highlighted the huge sacrifices being made.”
Karishma is a Hindu, but admits she isn’t deeply religious. For her, Diwali is about catching up with different family members and enjoying eating and celebrating together.
“I will be grieving the loss of family time,” she told HuffPost UK. “For me, when the lockdown announcement was made, Diwali was cancelled.
“A lot of people celebrate Christmas for the same reasons I celebrate Diwali – for being with family rather than religious reasons. But with Christmas, there is a huge commercial aspect which obviously boosts the economy.”
Karishma says Christmas is one of her favourite times of year. But she strongly believes coronavirus restrictions and rules shouldn’t be relaxed for it, either. “It would be like choosing Christmas over all the other religions which have already missed out on their festivals and making an exception,” she said.
Diwali celebrations in Leicester are famously one of the biggest outside India and usually attract people from all over the country for the entertainment and fireworks.
But this year, people are urged to take part in the city’s first virtual Diwali celebration from the safety of their homes.
Dhruv Upadhyaya, a practising Hindu from Leicester, told HuffPost UK that for his family, the restrictions will be “heartbreaking”.
“Not only will there not be a huge celebration in Leicester like there normally is with stage shows, performing acts, food stalls and fireworks down the Golden Mile, people won’t even be able to see their families apart from those they live with,” he said.
“I live with my wife but my father lives less than a mile away with my aunty – his younger sister – and according to the government rules, we won’t be able to see him which is heartbreaking.”
Dhruv says he found the language used by Boris Johnson when discussing the second lockdown “insulting”, with no mention made about the thousands of Hindus and Sikhs and the sacrifice they are making so Christmas might go ahead.
Over in Southall, West London, Lekhika Chaudhary is bracing herself to miss out on yet another religious festival.
Lekhika’s mother is Sikh and her dad is Hindu so she and her sister have always been brought up celebrating the festivals of both religions. This meant they experienced the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi under the first lockdown in April.
“Diwali is the one day when everyone gets together and gathers to celebrate and we were so looking forward to it,” the 24-year-old trainee solicitor said.
The major celebrations for Diwali that usually take place in Southall won’t be happening this year, and likewise neither will her traditional visits to the houses of people in her extended family. They will stick to one thing, though: A family prayer.
“I have grown up celebrating Diwali in a big way, so it would not feel right marking it in an understated manner,” she said.
“One of my best friends in Mumbai is ill with Covid. With coronavirus, it doesn’t feel like the right time to be celebrating.”
Lekhika told HuffPost UK that she believes it is the right decision for Diwali celebrations not to go ahead. “It is sad, but the mixing and mingling would be too dangerous.”
But for the same reasons, she thinks it would be inappropriate to lift coronavirus restrictions for Christmas. “I understand that Christmas is the biggest celebration in the UK and I am not being selfish, but I think it would be too risky to relax restrictions for Christmas as the chance of spreading the virus would be too great.
“I’m not saying that just because we missed out on our religious festivals, people should miss Christmas too as that would be petty.
“I just think it would be too risky to have Christmas, particularly for elderly grandparents and those with underlying health conditions.”
Lekhika told HuffPost UK she believes Boris Johnson has been trying to give people hope that Christmas will go ahead – but she feels things will be far from normal.
“I’m not saying that just because we missed out on our religious festivals, people should miss Christmas too as that would be petty. I just think it would be too risky to have Christmas."”
- Lekhika Chaudhary
“I love Christmas and will be sad at missing it too,” she said. “But a lot of people are frustrated that there is too much focus on Christmas and would sooner there be a focus on getting Covid behind us so we can reach normality together.
“So many plans and celebrations have been cancelled during this hellish year. We need to look ahead to 2021 and try to do them all properly next year.”
Sunita Thind, 38, who lives in Derby, had to undergo the turmoil of having her one remaining ovary removed in May during lockdown when her ovarian cancer returned four years after her initial diagnosis.
Since then, she has been through chemotherapy treatment, lost her hair and tested positive and recovered from coronavirus.
As a Sikh, she was looking forward to Diwali and seeing her family who she hasn’t seen since March – but the second lockdown scuppered her plans.
“I haven’t seen my family since the first lockdown as my immune system has been very low but I was going to see them for Diwali and have food and light candles with them.
“Diwali festivities such as people getting together to share food and have fireworks just won’t happen this year and it is so disappointing.”
Sunita, who is married to Peter, has always celebrated Christmas with his family in Lincoln. But this year, she fears that is unlikely to happen either. “I have this feeling of doom that there are going to be even more restrictions,” she told HuffPost UK.
Much as she loves Christmas, she believes Boris Johnson and the government should not be making a special case for Christmas while ignoring the needs and sacrifices of those from other religions.
“It is all very well Boris Johnson saying: ‘Save Christmas’, but he has not really thought about people from ethnic minorities.
“Diwali in lockdown has definitely affected me and my family. I celebrate both Diwali and Christmas and I feel sad that they will both be very different this year.
“I feel Boris Johnson is making exceptions for Christmas and dangling a carrot of hope. But I don’t think he will follow through as the handling of coronavirus has been shambolic and I don’t think it will be safe enough to lift restrictions.
“So many people have made lots of sacrifices and it has been horrible. Boris Johnson and the government should be thinking about other cultures and festivals such as Diwali and not just be fixated with Christmas.”