TOI correspondent from London: No. 10 has apologised for serving alcohol and meat at its Diwali party held two weeks ago.
A spokeswoman for Downing Street said on Friday that the prime minister was pleased to attend a Diwali reception in Downing Street. He praised the significant contribution to our nation made by the British Sikh, Jain, and Hindu populations. The event’s organization was messed up. We did apologize to the community and say sorry if this were to occur again because we understand how strongly this situation was felt.
Afterward, the Hindu Council UK, which was not invited, informed UK PM Keir Starmer that foods and alcohol use were strictly prohibited during Hindu spiritual holidays, and that choosing to offer these things was “insensitive.”
Shivani Raja, a member of Leicester East Hindu, wrote to Starmer to claim that this monitoring had caused the holidays to be “overshadowed by anger.”
A strange email from a NC Guragol to the American large commission in London, which was sent to Dr. S. Jaishankar, was later shared with the media accusing Labour Indians and the American higher commission in London of organizing the event. Labour Indians told TOI it had no presence.
Deepak Choudhary, minister ( coordination ) at the HCI, said:” As the event was hosted by HMG, the HCI — as a foreign domestic mission — obviously had no role in any aspect of the event. We participate in the same manner as any other host as we do in other similar invitations to activities that the host government arranges.
