Security Council as a Permanent Member would go a long way to forge stronger alliance between the two nations.
Soon thereafter, the members of the House and Senate lined up in the room waiting for their chance to address the leaders of the Indian American community. At one time there were six lawmakers sitting in the front row patiently waiting for their turn to speak. Throughout the two-hour program, the Congressmen and Senators continued dropping in to attend the event. This was an indication of the mutual respect between the lawmakers and the Asian Indian community.
Congressman Ed Royce (R-Califomia), the Co-chair of India Caucus was the first to come and the last to leave the room. He gave a comprehensive report on the activities of caucus in strengthening U.S-India relations. Royce was followed by the other co-chair of India Caucus, Congressman, Jim McDermott (D-Washington) who said he was very sad to see the misguided hate crimes against Indians, particularly Sikhs, in this country following the nine-eleven terrorist attacks. He asked his audience to be vigilant of such attacks and try to educate the American public about the people from India.
The terrorism was on the mind of virtually every lawmaker who addressed the gathering. They were all complimentary of the Indian government that strongly supported America in her quest to wipe off terrorism from the face of this earth. "India was one of the first countries to declare its support for America," said Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). Congressman Frank Pallone said that he stayed behind after the end of the Congressional session just to address this audience. Pallone is the co-founder of India Caucus, is very popular among the Indo-American community and was recently awarded Padma Bhushan by the government of India for his work in the Congress on behalf of the caucus. Others who addressed the Indo-American community included Congresswomen Hilda Solis (D-Califomia), and Connie Morella (R-Maryland), and Congressmen Alcee Hastings (D-Florida), Jim Davis (D-Florida), Joe Wilson (D-South Carolina), Bob Filner (D-Califomia) and many others.
Moderated by Raj en Anand of NFIA, Sambu Banik of IAFPE and Jay Joshi of the AIA, the event was not long enough to provide sufficient time to each legislator to make a significant point. Many times, the Congressmen had to cut their speeches in the interest of time. The event was branded as extremely successful by those who attended. There was only one complaint from the lawmakers: they expected Indian gourmet lunch not a boxed lunch. Of course, they understood and appreciated the difficulty of the organizers when informed that due to hightened security outside catering was not permitted at The Capitol Hill.
White House Briefing
Soon after the Congressional luncheon, the people departed for the White House where the Indo-American community was treated for the first time under the current Bush Administration to a briefing by the Staff. Harry Thomas, Director for South Asia, National Security Council was the first to brief the audience on the U.S-India and U.S-Pakistan relations. He emphasized that the United States maintains and will continue to maintain cordial relation with both India and Pakistan.
Holi by New Jersey Chapter
Association of Indians in America, NJ Chapter (AIANJ) held its First Holi function on March 24, 2002 in Edison, NJ. Holi is a Hindu festival of colors, which is celebrated on the full moon day of the month Phalagun and signifies unity and cooperation. Kamlesh Mehrotra, Jaswant Mody & Uma Swaminathan worked hard with the support of Mala Ganapathi, Rekha Rajvaidya, Atul Khanna, Renu Agrawal, Abhilasha Barbhaiya, Arun Palkhiwala, Chandresh Shah to make the Holi function successful.
Dr. Piyush Agrawal, the National President of AIA was a motivating source of inspiration to start Holi function in NJ, an
he came from Florida to attend this function. Under the leadership of Dr. Bharati Palkhiwala, AIANJ President, NEC members from NJ - Upendra Chivukula, Ravi Mehrotra & D.C. Agrawal and Andrew Pappachen from Coalition of Indian Organizations, Amita Patel from AAPC, representatives from Hindi-NJ, Manavi & other organizations joined the event. It was an excellent opportunity for several organizations to network with each other and get ready to celebrate the occasion on a much larger scale next year.
