ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia

Deepavali vs Diwali Sparks New Political Row in Malaysia

Is the Malaysian Indian Congress using Hindu identity politics to regain its political relevance ahead of the next general election?

Deepavali rangoli artwork at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 11, 2012.

In India, religious sentiment has become such a fragile commodity that it can be hurt by almost anything: a joke, a film song, a movie title, or even a slogan printed on a T-shirt.

Far from India, a slight change in spelling and pronunciation has sparked a political maelstrom. In Malaysia, the Hindu festival of lights is celebrated as a public holiday. This time a controversy erupted because the traditional terminology, “Deepavali,” was not used in public greetings.

After Kuala Lumpur City Hall erected festive arches wishing the public a “Happy Diwali,” M. Saravanan, deputy president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), accused the authorities of erasing the traditional terminology. For him, the change in spelling has become a question of cultural identity and religious sentiment.

Saravanan subsequently wrote to Hannah Yeoh, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for Federal Territories, asking her to restore the legally gazetted name. He said that the choice of name was not merely a matter of semantics but one of respect for the linguistic and cultural heritage of Malaysian Hindus.

Saravanan’s objection is linked to the fact that he, like the majority of Malaysian Hindus, traces his ancestry to southern India, particularly Tamil Nadu. He says the term “Diwali” is typically associated with North India, while most........

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