By Arti Panday
The Rose Garden Banquet Hall was filled with excited supporters and community members for the third annual Diya Divas Miss Diwali pageant presented by Epic Entertainment on October 15, 2017. With a talented group of six vibrant contenders for the title of Miss Diwali 2017, the show was packed with several colourful musical and dance acts.
Before the pageant began, Stephanie Jodhan took to the stage to perform two final dances as the reigning Miss Diwali. The audience was also treated to a performance by four members of Footsteps Dance School.
As the show got underway, the participants: Karishma Deoraj, Shalini Maharaj, Amrika Maharaj, Sarika Sasenarine, Michelle Munessar, and Kavita Ramsarran modeled colourful traditional clothing adorned with intricate patterns and complemented by beautiful accessories.
Following the contest portion of the evening, guests were

treated to performances by members of the Dil E Nadan band, Raymond Ramnarine Da Showstopper and Renuka Mahabir as the six judges tabulated the results.
Created as a way to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, the competition was comprised of four segments that each held cultural significance: a lehenga showcase and introduction; a talent portion; a sari competition; and a question and answer section.
As anticipation grew throughout the evening and after the lively displays of musical talent, the delegates took the stage for a final time to crown Miss Diwali 2017. After announcing awards for “most poise,” “most photogenic,” “best hairstyle,” and “miss congeniality” Radio Guyana International’s DJ Angel announced Miss Diwali 2017.
Considering her outstanding performance in each of the evening’s segments, and her melodious singing, 20-year-old Sarika Sasenarine was crowned Miss Diwali 2017.
In the question portion of the evening, Sasenarine was asked, “If you are crowned Miss Diwali 2017, what would be your message to the world?”
“My message to the world would be to have peace and love. We live in a society where politics and social media play such a major role in peoples’ life and where things posted on social media are not true. As long as we have peace and love and we remember our culture and dharma we can live in a world of peace,” Sasenarine responded.
In her new role as Miss Diwali 2017, Sasenarine will undertake various charitable initiatives in the community including assisting with the elderly and underprivileged. The Miss Diwali pageant presents female youth in the West Indian community with an opportunity to engage through cultural and religious forums while serving as a role model.

By Arti Panday
Hundreds of Guyanese-Canadians from across the GTA gathered in Brampton on October 14 to hear from former President and current General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Organized by the Association of Concerned Guyanese (ACG), the dinner and dance event culminated a week-long stay in the GTA for Jagdeo and Guyana’s former Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Irfaan Ali.
“The [PNC’s] message of change was a very potent one,” Jagdeo explained as he addressed the crowd following dinner to discuss where the PPP went wrong in the 2015 election and how the party expects to regain power in the next election, to take place no later than May 2020.
Prior to the opposition leader’s keynote speech, President of the ACG and former Consul General of Guyana to Canada, Danny Doobay, described the purpose of the opposition leader’s visit and set the tone for the evening.
“The first objective was to reflect on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the restoration of democracy on October 5, 1992,”

Doobay stated, referencing what the PPP views as the first free and fair election since Guyana’s independence in 1966.
“The second reason we organized this series of events is in response to the anxieties that we have come to learn of in our community... from the current governing actions of the current administration,” Doobay continued
Leading up to the event on Saturday evening, the ACG organized over a dozen public meetings where representatives from Guyana’s opposition party interacted with Guyanese-Canadians living in the GTA.
Speaking about the transformation Guyana has seen in the past 25 years, former Minister Irfaan Ali explained three points of change the country has experienced. In 1992, Guyana was considered the poorest country in the Western hemisphere; in 2015, after 23 years of the PPP being in power, Guyana was touted as having the fastest-growing economy in Latin America, South America and the Caribbean; and today, Guyana is regarded as one of the most sluggish economies in South America.
“The honourable Bharrat Jagdeo has embarked on a series of activities aimed at reenergizing, rebuilding and restructuring the party... to reconnect with Diaspora,” Minister Ali stated as he described the week’s events and noted that the diaspora “responded overwhelmingly.”
When it was time for the opposition leader to proceed with his remarks, he described how he intends on leading the PPP in an effort to rebuild the party, noting that “the strength of the PPP has been, historically, its organization on the ground.”
Jagdeo used the platform to explain five reasons for the PPP’s marginal loss in the 2015 election: the complacency of PPP leaders; former PPP leaders acting as “Trojan Horses”; widespread desire for change in government; the media’s constant assault of the PPP; and the fact that APNU had the highest voter turnout ever.
Looking to transform the party and breathe new life into the PPP, Jagdeo stated his strategy to ensure a win in the next election.
The opposition leader plans to rebuild the party, reconnect with voters who abandoned the party in the last election, dismantle the message that the PPP is corrupt and work hard to guarantee voter turnout, especially in APNU-held areas.
“I have no doubt that we will have the numerical strength to win the election,” Jagdeo stated has he described his plan.
Addressing the biggest challenge of winning the 300 polling places that are currently held by APNU, Jagdeo stated his intention is to place the strongest activists in these areas to serve as advocates for a free and fair election.
Jagdeo concluded his address by encouraging Guyanese living outside to support the PPP’s cause by getting involved with the ACG, writing to MPs about transgressions in Guyana and registering to vote.
The ACG was founded in Toronto 44 years ago in an effort to galvanize international support for the “restoration of democracy.”