GOPIO NEWS BULLETIN

April, 2004

CONTENTS

  • GOPIO ASKS GOVT. OF INDIA TO TAKE PRO-ACTIVE STAND ON PIO HUMAN RIGHTS
  • MORE HATE CRIMES AGAINST ASIANS IN UK
  • INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY CELEBRATIONS PLANNED IN TRINIDAD
  • FIJI INDIANS CELEBRATE 125TH ARRIVAL DAY WITH GIRMIT WEBSITE LAUNCH
  • GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS

-          GOPIO NORWAY ELECTS ITS COMMITTEE

-          MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY MEETS LOS ANGELES INDIAN COMMUNITY

  • GOPIO.CONNECT: TWO NGOs WORKING AS INDIA DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE CONDUITS

-          CRY (Child Relief And You) - New Delhi

-          HHI (Health & Happiness Inc.) Chicago

  • PIOs ACHIEVE

-          Indian-born Woman first Asian-American to Head Distinguished US Group

-          Indian Children Outshine others in Scotland

-          Four Indian Americans to be Honored with Ellis Island Medal of Honor

-          Varsity Honor for Indo-Trinidadian Cricketer

-          Indian-American receives top US award  

  • RECORD 2003 REMITTANCE OF $18 BILLION BY INDIAN DIASPORA
  • GOPIO CHAPTER FORMATION
  • EDITORIAL BOARD

GOPIO ASKS INDIA GOVT. TO TAKE PRO-ACTIVE STAND ON PIO HUMAN RIGHTS

Human Rights Experiences: People of Indian Origin in the Caribbean, Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe was the theme of an all-day conference held at St Johns University, in Queens, New York on Saturday, March 20, 2004.

Sponsored by the Universitys Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and co-sponsored by the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), GOPIO-New York and the Guyanese East Indian Civic Association (GEICA), the daylong conference was inaugurated on Friday, March 19th at the Worlds Fair Marina Banquet Hall in New York city. With an introduction from GOPIO life member Ramesh Kalicharan, the welcome dinner reception was compeered by GOPIO-New York member Doe Gosine and Filmmaker Shundell Prasad. GOPIO New York President Lal Motwani welcomed the conference delegates. Former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Basdeo Panday was the Guest of Honor and former Fiji PM Mahendra Chaudhry delivered the keynote address. A commemorative souvenir brochure edited by GEICA Director Prakash Singh was released at the evening which also included a dance performance by Romani Kalicharan.

 

The day-long conference on Saturday was organized into four sessions. The conference discussed the human rights experiences of people of Indian origin (PIO) living in different countries outside of India with significant PIO populations. These countries and regions included Fiji, USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.

 

According to Ashook Ramsaran, GOPIO Secretary General and conference co-organizer, the conference focused on the nature, causes and elements of human rights abuses as they affect Indians living outside of India. "We examined those countries and regions where the experiences of Indian assimilation have been both harmonious and contentious," Ramsaran said. "We are pleased with the interest and support that St Johns University has provided for this global forum to address a crucial issue of concern to over 20 million people of Indian origin living outside of India. There is no doubt that this conference has indeed advanced the discussions on an important subject at this critical time in the history of the Indian Diaspora", Ramsaran continued.

 

Chaired by Dr. Alina Camacho-Gingerich, Director of St. Johns University Center on Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS), the conference brought scholars, rights advocates, PIO political leaders, and policy makers the world over to examine the causal nature, extent and consequences of such abuses and to address some of the underlying issues therein. "The lessons so learned", Prakash Singh, GEICAs director and conference co-organizer, "can be a yardstick for other groups in tackling this ubiquitous problem now simmering in many regions of the world".

 

At the GOPIO convention in Zurich in June 2000, immediately following the Fiji crisis where PM Chaudhry was taken hostage, GOPIO passed the famous Zurich declaration, "when any person of Indian origin is abused, attacked or discriminated against in any part of the world because of his or her ethnicity, all persons of Indian origin around the world will deem such an act or action directed against all of them and will stand together in the pursuit of justice." This declaration was re-iterated by GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham at the conference inauguration.

 

GOPIO president Inder Singh said that GOPIO would continue its commitment to help our communities around the world. "GOPIOs Human Rights Commission is being constituted to include representation from all regions of the world," said Singh.

 

The conference commenced with opening remarks by St. Johns Vice Provost Dr. Brian Nedwek, conference Chairperson Dr Alina Camacho-Gingerich of St. Johns University and GOPIO chairman Dr. Abraham. Congressman Gregory Meeks complimented GOPIO for its determination to make a better world. "Racial profiling of some communities in the US is not acceptable," said Meeks.

 

In his keynote address, Mahendra Chaudhry said that racism is not less than terrorism and in this day in age, people often fail to recognize that racism is a form of terrorism. "People usually associate racism with just one race feeling superior than the another, and forget to think that it is a form of terrorism," said Chaudhry. "The extreme elements are responsible in promoting paramount of one race over the other," Chaudhry added. He has also said that there is suffering in silence and that these experiences should be known. Chaudhry, who made a special trip to the conference, has been fighting violation of political rights of Indo-Fijians in Fiji. "Fiji Indians suffered indenture and now they are suffering by widespread discrimination and violation of political rights," Chaudhry said.

 

Basdeo Panday, former PM and leader of the United National Congress in Trinidad and Tobago, in his keynote address at the conference said that the Indian Diaspora would not be able to help the Indians living in Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana and other countries because the Diaspora is not well organized yet although some initial progress has been done by GOPIO. "The Indian Diaspora indeed is certainly big and it is very difficult to organize and make it work together because of the size," Panday Said. Panday complimented GOPIO for bringing the consciousness of the Indian government about the powerful Indian Diaspora.

 

In his keynote address, Prof. Vinai Lal of UCLA said that Indian Diaspora is making a great impact in transnational economic and cultural exchange. However, Lal said that Indians can be oppressed without much happening to the oppressors. "Indian govt. is not capable of providing help at times of crisis except toothless response," said Lal. According to Lal, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas organized by Govt. of India is a deceptive exercise.

 

Prof. Parasram Thakur, Vice Provost of University of Bernice, Guyana, spoke on the subject, "Negotiating My Rights Rights to Negotiate." Prof. Thakur highlighted the problem of negotiating with the larger community. Dr. Dwijendra Battacharya and Dr. Jitendra Roy spoke on the atrocities against Hindus, Christians and Buddhists in Bangladesh and asked Govt. of India to take an active role with Bangladesh Govt. to stop the atrocities. Dr. Balgopal Pallasana, professor Emeritus at University Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, spoke about personal and national identity and said when they do not compromise, the problems arise.  Dr. Leonard Baynes, professor of Law at St. Johns University said that discrimination and rights violations stem from acts of colonialism which is still in the US to some extend. Prof. Surendra Kaushik of Pace University of New York said that all discriminations and rights violation of PIOs should be noted in a global registry. Dr. Jagat Motwani, a community activist and author, said that some of PIOs whose rights are violated bring it to themselves because of the disunity of the community.

 

Attorney and rights activist and Dr. Dolly Hassan spoke about the problems and rights violations of PIOs after 9/11 terrorist acts. Bal Naipaul of St. Catherine, Canada spoke about the divisiveness of Indian community in Canada and the lack of networking with the African community to fight discrimination and rights violations in Canada. Dhanendra Kanani, a member of Council of Racial Equality in UK said that the main problem is how to create a sense of commonality for people of Indian origin. "British Indians were able to connect more locally than nationally," said Kanani.

 

Dr. Prem Misir, Pro-Chancelor of University of Guyana said the current Guyana Govt. under Bharrat Jagdeo has made many constitutional amendments, constituted many commissions to protect the rights of children, women and indigenous people and that there is a constructive dialogue between communities now in Guyana. However, Guyana community activist and founder of Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA) Ryaan Shah contested that argument and provided statistics of increasing violence against Indians in Guyana. This was also contested by Prof. Rishi Thakur of University of Guyana.

 

Anthropologist Dr. Kumar Mahabir of Costaatt Community College in Trindiad and Tobago spoke of the increasing violence and discrimination against PIOs in Trinidad and Tobago. "PIO Businessmen and professionals have imposed a night-time self-curfew, and hire private bodyguards and armed escorts while their children are leaving to USA and Canada," said Mahabir. Dr Mohan Gautam of Leiden University, The Netherlands, said "Human rights beings at home; we must get together to develop useful and effective strategies to confront the various problems we face as Indians in diaspora".

 

Indo-Trinidadian Dr. Christendat Mahadeo from University of Illinois said that Indo-Caribbean should actively participate in the political process and take more civic responsibility in the US. The last speaker of the conference, Hon. Ravi Dev, a member of the Guyana Parliament representing ROAR, said that PIOs human rights can be respected only if the community advances its political rights. The conference session ended with concluding remarks by St. Johns Universitys Vice Provost Dr. Willard Gingerich who thanked the organizers for putting together the conference at the university.

 

The conference concluded with a plenary session on Sunday, March 21st, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel where the delegates passed the following resolutions:

I. Resolution on Fiji

WHEREAS all citizens of Fiji are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

AND WHEREAS the constitution of Fiji guarantees appropriate representation of all its people in the government,

AND WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Fiji has determined that the constitution of Fiji must be observed and democracy restored by the Government of Fiji,

AND WHEREAS persons of Indian origin in Fiji are still being denied their legitimate constitutional and legislative representation,

WE call on the Government of Fiji to fully implement the decision of its Supreme Court and restore all rights and privileges to persons of Indian origin in Fiji.

 

II. Resolution on Trinidad & Tobago

WHEREAS all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

AND WHEREAS there exists in Trinidad and Tobago a heightened state of atrocities stemming from abduction and kidnapping of persons of Indian origin in Trinidad and Tobago,

AND WHEREAS there is deep concern that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is not effectively dealing with this crisis which continues to terrorize persons of Indian origin in Trinidad and Tobago,

WE call on the Government of Trinidad and Tobago take immediate actions to bring an end to the abuse of human rights against persons of Indian origin in Trinidad and Tobago;

AND FURTHER, we call on the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to immediately file a report with the United Nations International Human Rights Commission detailing what direct actions the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has taken to bring a cessation of the abduction and kidnapping perpetuated against of persons of Indian origin in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

IIIa. Resolution on Bangladesh

WHEREAS all citizens of Bangladesh are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

AND WHEREAS we are fully cognizant of the many atrocities being committed against the minority citizens of Bangladesh, especially against Hindus, Christians and Buddhists,

WE call on the Government of Bangladesh to take immediate actions to put an end to this abuse of human rights being perpetuated against minority groups in Bangladesh.

 

IIIb. Resolution on Bangladesh

WHEREAS all citizens of Bangladesh are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

AND WHEREAS we are fully cognizant of the many atrocities being committed against the minority citizens of Bangladesh, especially against Hindus, Christians and Buddhists,

WE call on the Government of India to take immediate steps with the Government of Bangladesh to put an end to this abuse of human rights being perpetuated against minority groups in Bangladesh.

 

IV. Resolution on Guyana

WHEREAS all citizens of Guyana are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

WE condemn the on-going human rights abuses perpetrated against persons of Indian origin in Guyana.

AND we call on the Government of Guyana to take all additional and necessary measures to remedy the abuses forthwith. AND WE further condemn any and all groups that perpetuate such violence against persons of Indian origin in Guyana.

 

V. Resolution to Government of India

WHEREAS all citizens are duly entitled to equal justice and freedom as provided under United Nations charters,

AND WHEREAS persons of Indian origin living in various countries outside of India are faced human rights abuses in various forms,

WE call on the Government of India to closely and actively monitor the human rights abuses perpetuated against persons of Indian origin living in various countries outside of India, and to take all necessary measures and seek appropriate remedy to put an end to those abuses.

 

MORE HATE CRIMES AGAINST ASIANS IN UK


Racially or religiously motivated crimes against Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus in Britain registered a steep rise last year, according to figures released by the British government's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in London . According to CPS, race crime last year rose by 12 per cent with 2,000 more cases being prosecuted than when the law was introduced in 1999. At the same time, the new offence of religiously aggravated crime resulted in 18 prosecutions, an ethnic portal serving Asian-Indians worldwide reported.

 

INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY CELEBRATIONS IN TRINIDAD

To commemorate Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad, the Mahatma Institute for Cultural Cooperation (MRICC) , the National Council of Indian Culture and the University of West Indies have joined together to organize a seminar on May 21st and 22nd at the university of West Indies. For more info, contact MGICC Director P.C. Bharadwaj at Port of Spain, Trinidad, Tel: 868/6465-3800 or 868/662-8109, Fax: 868/662-8115

The Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council has planned to bring out issue of Indian Arrival Day magazine. Articles are invited on protests and other forms of resistance during Indentureship. This years magazine seeks to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the 1884 Hosay massacre. Writers who wish to express their views on cultural topics, socio-political issues, current events, or any other subject relevant to the historical theme of this magazine are asked to submit their material in the form of articles, reviews, short stories and poems. Contact: Dr. Kumar Mahabir, Editor, Swami Avenue, Don Miguel Road, San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, Tel: 868/675-7707, 868/756-4961 9cell), E-mail: mahab@tstt.net.tt

FIJI INDIANS CELEBRATE 125TH ARRIVAL DAY WITH FIJI GIRMIT WEBSITE LAUNCH

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the first landing of Indian indentured workers in Fiji, a new website http://www.fijigirmit.org has been launched. The site contains a lot of interesting, and historical material on Girmit.

At the launch, Dr., Biman Prasad, Associate Professor and head of the Economics Department at the University of South Pacific said, The launching of the Fiji Girmit website is an important occasion for many reasons. It is a celebration of an event that took place 125 years ago which brought to Fiji a group of people who chose to stay in Fiji and make Fiji their home. While the atrocities, trials and tribulations of the indenture system in Fiji have been well documented, the descendants of Girmitiya's have moved on and the third and fourth generations Indo-Fijians are truly part of Fiji's landscape and this is going to remain the case no matter what the circumstances in this country is going to be in future.

GOPIO CHAPTER NEWS

GOPIO NORWAY ELECTS ITS COMMITTEE

The GOPIO Norway which was initiated in February has elected a set of office bearers. Mr. Mohan Singh Varma, President of the Norway Chapter has informed the GOPIO International of the election of the following executives.

President - Mohan Singh Varma, First Vice President - Balwinder Singh Jossan, Second Vice President - Ms. Twinkle Dawes, Secretary - Mr. Kailash Rai, treasurer - Ravi Saigal, Executive Committee Members - Asadullah Syed, Mistri Hasmukh, Vijay Sharma, Duttaroy Asim, Edward Dawes and Chander Mohan Sharma.

The Norway Chapter is the latest addition in the GOPIO Internationals efforts to have chapters in all countries. Mohan Singh Varma together with GOPIO Belgium President Sunil Prasad have established contacts to form Chapters in all the Scandinavian countries.

The Norway Chapter President Varma can be contacted at mohansinghvarma@hotmail.com

 

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY MEETS LOS ANGELES INDIAN COMMUNITY

Former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry of Fiji met members of the Indian community at the Bombay Palace restaurant in Beverly Hills on March 27, 2004. Chaudhry spoke about the current situation in Fiji. He explained why he, being the opposition leader in Fijian parliament, is not joining the current Fijian cabinet as required by the constitution. He also encouraged the attendees to join GOPIO, the only organization which stands by and supports PIOs worldwide.

The community meeting was organized by GOPIO President Inder Singh. India Association of San Fernando Valley under the leadership of Mr. Surjit Bassi, co-sponsored the dinner meeting. Some prominent members of the Fijian community in Los Angeles area actively participated in the dinner meeting. Richard Kumar, of eFijian.com specially came from Las Vegas to attend the meeting.

GOPIO.CONNECT: TWO NGOs WORKING AS INDIA DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE CONDUITS

In this months section, the focus of GOPIO.Connect is to look at NGO conduits driving India Development & Assistance Activities. Here, we feature two NGOs one headquartered in India and the other in USA, that are bringing effective action in India through their Financial & Partnering Activities all across the NRI community.

CRY (Child Relief And You) - New Delhi

CRY acts as a link between two groups - development organizations and individuals working at grassroots level with underprivileged children and communities, and people like you who wish to help but don't know how. CRY harnesses the money, time and skills of thousands of individuals and organizations to partner 169 child development initiatives across India, making it an 'enabling' organization, not an 'implementing' one for last 23 years. www.gopio.net/india_development/casestories.doc

HHI (Health & Happiness Inc.) Chicago

HHI provides services, including charity selection, donations transfer & monitoring, to all donors, absolutely FREE without any requirement or condition, and guaranty that 100% of donations will go for the services to the needy and the donor decides the place, purpose and the organization and get a tax benefit. Since 1995, HHI has provided services to more than 10,000 needy individuals & 2000 permanently handicapped ones in India through 60 charitable organizations to communities throughout India such as Art of Living Foundation, Ramakrishna Mission, Mother Teresa Mission, Child Relief And You (CRY), Dalai Lama Foundation. www.gopio.net/india_development/HHI.pdf

For more information on GOPIO.connect, please visit: www.gopio.net/india_development

PIOs ACHIEVE

Indian-born Woman first Asian-American to Head Distinguished US Group

Dr. Vishakha Desai, a PIO originally from Ahmedabad, is the Asian American and also the first woman to head the nearly 50-year old educational non-profit institution Asia Society, whose primary objective is to foster understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific.

The society first began as an elite club of senior American diplomats. Prior to the appointment, Desai was the society's senior vice-president and curator of Indian, Southeast Asian and Islamic art at the Boston-based Museum of Fine Arts. She had also taught at several American universities. Dr. Desai takes over from former US ambassador to Pakistan Nicholas Platt, who is retiring this summer after 12 years at the helm. Asia Society was founded in 1956 by the late John D. Rockefeller III, a noted industrialist and philanthropist. Its centers in the Asia-Pacific region are based in Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne and Shanghai.

Recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Indo-U.S. Sub-commission on Education and Culture, and the American Institute of Indian Studies, Dr Desai has published extensively on traditional Indian and contemporary Asian art. She is married to Robert B Oxnam, a China Scholar, who was president of the Asia Society from 1981 to 1992.

 

Indian Children Outshine Others in Scotland

Indian children outperformed all other pupils in last year's examinations in Scotland, repeating the performance of their counterparts in England. The high performers were those from Indian, Chinese and mixed-race backgrounds, according to a report released by the Scottish Executive.

The breakdown of Scottish Qualification Authority data on Standard Grade and new National Qualifications also revealed that pupils in rural schools outstripped their counterparts in Scottish towns and cities.

 

Four Indian Americans to be Honored with Ellis Island Medal of Honor

For the first time, four Indian Americans have been selected by the National Ethnic coalition of Organizations (NECO) to receive the Ellis Island medal of Honor. They are Dr. Muhammed Majeed, President of Sabinsa Corporation (Piscataway, NJ); Gopal Raju, Founder of India Abroad weekly publication, Indian American Foundation and Indo Asian news Service (New York, NY); Dr. R. Vidyasagar, Cardio Thoracic Surgeon (Brandon, FL); and Dr. Jay S. Yadav, Author, Inventor, Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Vascular Intervention at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.(Cleveland, OH). The medals will be bestowed on the awardees at a glittering function at the Ellis Island in New York on May 15th, 2004.

 

Varsity Honor for Indo-Trinidadian Cricketer

PORT OF SPAIN: University of West Indies - Guardian Life will be honoring Sonny Ramadhin, the Indo-Trinidadian player who represented West Indies in Test cricket in the 1950s, by naming a series of lectures on cricket after him. The Sonny Ramadhin Annual Cricket Lecture was launched on April 23 as a recognition to the player's contribution to cricket in the West Indies. Laurels and recognitions have come easily to Ramadhin, who grew from playing with coconut bats in Central Trinidad, to being a Test cricket genius. In 1995, the National Council of Indian Culture honored him as an Indo-Trinidadian who made it to the international cricketing fields. Also, various national and international organizations have acknowledged him as a cricket great.

During the hey days of his cricket career, between 1950s and 60s, Ramadhin played in 43 Tests, 18 of which were against England, 11 against Australia, six each against New Zealand and India and two against Pakistan. He took 158 wickets at an average of 28.98. His best bowling spell was seven for 49 against England in the first Test at Edgbaston in May 1957.

 

Indian-American Receives Top US Award


Indian American and former Peace Corps' Chief Information Officer Gopal Khanna has been acknowledged as one of the Federal 100 - a recognition of the top executives from government, industry and academia who had the greatest impact on the US government information systems community in 2003.  The 2004 Federal 100 awards were presented to hundred leaders who made a difference in federal information technology during the 2003 calendar year, at a celebratory event in Washington on March 16.  The winners were nominated by Federal Computer Week readers and selected by an independent panel of judges for their contributions to the development, acquisition or management of federal IT. As CIO, Khanna successfully managed and enhanced the systems technology of the Peace Corps. In October of 2003, Khanna was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Peace Corps - charged with overseeing the financial planning and growth of the agency.

 

RECORD 2003 REMITTANCE OF $18 BILLION BY INDIAN DIASPORA


According to the balance of payments figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), workers' remittances to India rose to a staggering $18.2 billion in the last calendar year, posting a growth of as much as 30 percent over 2002.  The October-December quarter of 2003 witnessed maximum transfer of money by overseas Indians with the figure touching $5.2 billion, up from $5 billion logged in the July-September period, the RBI data showed. In the January-March quarter of 2003, total remittances amounted to $3.8 billion and it was followed by $4.2 billion worth of private transfers in the quarter ended June 30, 2003.  Remittances, or money sent home by emigrant Indians, are pushing India to the top slot among all developing countries -- accounting for about five times the country's foreign direct investments per year.

GOPIO CHAPTER FORMATION

GOPIO is looking forward to opening chapters in all major cities of the world so as to network people of Indian origin all over the world. If you do not have chapter in your city, please visit GOPIO website (www.gopio.net) and get details of chapter initiation (visit http://www.gopio.net/chapter_initiative.htm). Process involves sending a letter of intent to start a chapter by a committee of five people or more. For more information, contact:

GOPIO President Inder Singh, Tarzana, California, USA, Tel: 818-708-3885, E-mail: gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net

GOPIO Secretary General Ashook Ramsaran, Fresh Meadows, New York city, Tel: 718-353-1900, E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com

Or write to GOPIO, P.O. Box 1413, Stamford, CT 06904, USA.

 

EDITORIAL BOARD

v     Dr. Thomas Abraham (Stamford, CT, USA)

v     Prashant Gupta (Chicago, IL, USA)

v     Sunil Prasad (Brussles, Belgium)

GOPIO NEWS welcomes NRI/PIO related stories from all over the world. Be a volunteer correspondent or reporter. Contact Dr. Thomas Abraham at gopio@optonline.net

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