Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard launches campaign for Diwali stamp

The first Hindu elected to the US Congress has launched a signature campaign to ask the country's postal service to issue a stamp for recognising Diwali as a special day.

Washington: Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress, has launched a signature campaign to ask the country's postal service to issue a stamp for recognising Diwali as a special day.

"After decades of progress towards creating a postage stamp that recognises the festival of lights, finally, we're almost there," Gabbard said in a video message which has now been doing the rounds of the social media for the past several days.

Hindu is the only major religion for which the US Postal Service has not issued a stamp so far. In the past several years, a number of Indian Americans and community organisations have launched such campaigns, but without success.

"This is the final stretch" Gabbard stressed asking Hindu Americans to sign her online petition in this regard.

"Every year when we get together and we celebrate Diwali, the beautiful festival of lights, we're celebrating the triumph of good over evil, of right over wrong. Now, a lot of people having been working hard to try to get a Diwali stamp here in the United States, but we need your help," Gabbard said.

"Please join me in signing this petition so that we can increase the volume of all of our voices all across the country in urging the United States Postal

Service to create a Diwali stamp to recognise this special day and to further increase and enrich our nation's tapestry of religious and cultural diversity," Gabbard appealed in her video message.