Diwali celebrations at House of Commons in Britain

Nov 15: Diwali celebrations at House of Commons turned out to be a memorable event with the presence of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The function was attended by around 80 parliamentarians including several cabinet ministers and multi-faith leaders.

Diwali celebrations, jointly organised by British M Ps and Hindu Forum of Britain happens to be a cross party event. For the last six years the function is being arranged at the British parliament by the forum. “The motto of our organization is simple: proud to be British, proud to be Hindu” said the general secretary of the Forum, Ramesh Kallidai.

Gordon Brown was also made the honourary member of the community after striking a similarity between the meaning of the name of Gordon and Govardhan. Kallidai welcomed Gordon Brown addressing as ‘Govardhan Brown”.

British Prime Minister was full of praises for the forum, which helped Indian Hindu community to mingle with the British society and for the contributions it made to the economy of Britain.

Earlier on Monday the general secretary of the forum told that this annual function on the occasion of Diwali is now an established event in the community and the political calendar.

Brown also indicated his visit to India in January and his willingness to have several agreements with India in the field of education, health and other development projects. In the list of issues likely to come to the fore will be the eradication of diseases, education for all etc.

This is to be mentioned that Brown on Tuesday only supported India’s bid for the permanent seat in UN Security Council and in view of India emerging as a strong economy and a global power and in a bid to carve out a unique place for his country Brown is in favour of strong relations with India.