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Updated: Oct 17, 2017 10:51 IST

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to wish everyone a happy Diwali. He, however, managed to come in the line of fire of several users for his choice of words.

‘Diwali Mubarak’, Trudeau greeted his 3.71 million followers, with a picture of himself in a black sherwani, lighting a lamp.

“Diwali Mubarak! We’re celebrating in Ottawa tonight. #HappyDiwali!” reads the caption of the image that has been retweeted nearly 800 times and ‘liked’ by 3.5K users.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a reception in Ottawa celebrating #Diwali. pic.twitter.com/8DYFrl2F5Z — CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) October 17, 2017

Trudeau was instantly criticised for using the word ‘Mubarak’ that has its origins in Arabic. He was asked to correct his mistake:

Word to the wise : It's "Shubh-Deepavali", (Auspicious Deepavali), and NOT "Diwali Mubarak". "Mubarak" is Arabic, not Indian. @CanadainIndia — Truthsayer (@a_truthsayer) October 17, 2017

It's not "Diwali Mubarak", it's "Diwali Ki Badhai" ... Correct it .. — Bhavesh K Pandey (@bhaveshkpandey) October 17, 2017

PM Justin, thanks for the Deepavali Greetings. Confirm w. @CanadainIndia, please amend your tweet. Nobody, but nobody, says "Diwali Mubarak" — Truthsayer (@a_truthsayer) October 17, 2017

My man you can’t say Mubarak when referring to Diwali — Bhavana (@BhavanaNTR) October 17, 2017

Thank you, Mr.PM. Its good to hear from a global icon. But it's either 'subh deewali' (Hindhi) or deepavali Vazhthukal(Tamil). — Abinayah Raguraam (@AbinayahR) October 17, 2017

There were some who thought the criticism was unnecessary and that the spirit of the festival should be enjoyed:

You are awesome. Not sure why ppl getting offended by "Mubarak" Respect the sentiments behind, Mubarak just an Arabic word for blessing — Shaan (@Shanyousaf6) October 17, 2017

What an odd way of phrasing it, but Thank you — Raj (@pennythegirl) October 17, 2017

Trudeau has been known to partake in Indian festivities every once in a while.

In July this year, clad in a green kurta and white pyjamas, the 45-year-old performed a pooja at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto, emphasising how deeply Canada values the “special” relationship with India.

In August, he made his maiden appearance at an event celebrating India’s Independence Day after he became Canada’s PM and won the crowd over by concluding his speech with “Jai Hind”.

India will celebrate the festival of lights on October 19.