Miami, Florida: September 28, 2000. The Association of Indians in America (AIA), the oldest Indian organization, launched its Election 2000 Initiative last week through its Chapter Presidents and the nationwide network of membership. Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President of AIA made an urgent appeal to all the members of the organization to get involved immediately in the democratic process. The Presidents of various Chapters have either already started the Voter Registration Drives or are in the process since in many states the deadline for voter registration is approaching very fast.

Under the aegis of AIA's Center for Responsible Citizenship, Election 2000 initiative has made a quite but impressive progress. However, the success of this or any other initiative exclusively depends upon the support of each and every member of the AIA and every person of (Asian) Indian origin. AIA neither endorses a particular political party nor a particular candidate. Nevertheless, we encourage our membership to actively participate in the democratic process. We believe that it is our moral responsibility and civic duty to exercise our privileged right of franchise.

If we have to succeed in this country as a community, we need to get organized and participate in the civic duties and political processes of the land. Granted that some of us have been politically active and have raised millions of dollars for political campaigns; yet, these efforts have been disorganized with no coherent theme as to what we would like to gain as a group or achieve as a community. Many who have been active in politics and fundraising have been content with photo opportunities and private dining with politicians for the sake of impressing their friends and acquaintances. Many politicians have not taken our community seriously either. For them, we are a divided community unable to forge a common ground on priorities.

It has been estimated that about $14 million dollars have been raised through the 2000 Presidential Elections so far. Money was raised and contributed by individuals without an agenda or a clear vision as to what the community would expect in return from the political candidates who were the beneficiaries. We have yet to see any tangible results from the political fund raising activities so far. We do not have even a single individual of Indian descent in a position of power to have any impact on policy decisions in this country except Dr. Joy Cherian, who was one of the Commissioners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But he was not a beneficiary of any fund raising activities.

It is important for all of us to understand the golden rule of NOTE & VOTE. Note is the contribution to the political parties and to the candidates. But, Vote is more important since it makes the difference between winning and loosing. PLEASE REGISTER AND VOTE.

National President Agrawal has appointed Honorable Upendra Chivikula, Mayor of Franklin Township, NJ a member of the AIA's National Executive Committee, as the Chair of the Election 2000 Committee to spearhead this initiative.

For more information, contact Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal at the numbers/address given below.