While many Indians joyfully celebrated the festival of lights, one Malaysian Indian man did not partake in this year’s celebrations, in solidarity with Palestine amidst the Middle East conflict.
The man, @mythreyar15 announced his decision in a three minute video and explained that this decision was not influenced by any parties and was solely based on how he felt.
According to him, the decision was driven by a desire to acknowledge the sentiments of the Malay community in Malaysia.
He added that everytime he would be on social media, he would encounter heartbreaking news about the harsh realities of the situation in Palestine. And these news were shared by other Malaysians whom he viewed as his family as well.
He said that he could not celebrate the festival while other members of his “family” were suffering from the pain of the war in the Middle East.
As of Nov 14, the video has garnered 2.2 million views on TikTok, with more than 26,000 comments, more than half of them expressing their appreciation at his decision.