GOPIO NEWS - October 2001

Community Organizations Join GOPIO in NY Solidarity Meeting

Twenty five community organization joined GOPIO in a solidarity meeting held in 

New York at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sunday, September 23rd evening. There were 

several prominent political and community leaders who paid tributes to those who 

lost their lives at the terrorist attacks on America.

The program started with opening remarkes by GOPIO's Lal Motwani followed by the 

American National Anthem sung by Liza Abraham and interfaith prayers by Padita 

Indrani, Haji Zakir, Bhai Anand Singh and V.Rev. P.S. Samuel. GOPIO President 

Dr. Thomas Abraham, in his welcome address condemned the Sept 11 brutal and 

senseless attack on America as a henious crime on humanity. Dr. Abraham said 

"the terrorists attacked the most diverse city in the world and there is hardly 

a national or ethnic group that has not been touched directly by this tragedy."

Dr. Abraham further pointed that some misinformed and misguided people have 

engaged in violence against South Asian Americans. "The terrorists were trying 

to breakdown the fabric of America and we should not allow these people to 

breakdown what America stands for", Abraham said. "Let us not forget that our 

common enemy is global terrorism and to fight that, all nations have to come 

together," Abraham added.

Congressman Benjamin Gilman expressed gratefulness to India for offering to help 

right after the terrorist attack. He regretted that America had to learn the 

hard way who their friends really are in that region, and acknowledged that 

American troops in the current situation will be far safer in India than 

anywhere else. Gilman said, "Kashmir, faced the same problem that has now hit 

America." The world at large ignored Pakistan's role in Afghanistan and its 

support of other hard core terrorist groups, he continued, but promised that his 

committee on South Asian affairs would be closley monitoring Pakistan even as 

the U.S. accept assistance from Pakistan.

Gilman said that this was not just a war against terrorism, nor was it about 

rab-Israeli conflict; it was about fundamentalist Islam wanting to demolish 

democracy and all it stands for."The government intends to take just retribution 

agasint the guilty, whether they live, be in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq or 

Pakistan," Gilman said. "America is not going to be any fallen tower but a tower 

of light in the dark world," Gilman added.

Member of Indian Parliament, Sunil Dutt took time off from his fund-raising 

efforts in America for Nargis Memorial foundatuion to explain that America has 

sent over $4 million in aid to cancer projects in India. Dutt canceled all 

current fund-raising to join and share in the sorrow of the country. Dutt said 

"the two towers were like two strong arms of America trying to embrace you and 

now the strong arms are no longer there but the strong arms of the people are 

there to build it again." America, he said, is like a small world and making 

this an attack was not just on America but on the world.

Santosh Jha, vice consul at the Indian Consulate in New York, said they liased 

with press and government officials on the backlash that was affecting people of 

Indian origin also. Their initiatives saw a Sikh and Hindu priest also joining 

in public prayers held by New York city at Yankee stadium.

George Canard, construction project manager of parks dvision in New York city, 

explained that they were working to conserve the Gandhi statue in Union Square. 

He lauded Gandhi for influening his life and for providing non-violence way of 

life to the world. As a volunteer at the Ground Zero, in his words, there is not 

one piece of concrete at the disaster site that could not fit in a pail or 

bucket, pointing to the magnititude of damage by the terrorist attack on the 

World Trade Center.

Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks said "the terrorists attacked the wrong country 

and wrong city and we will get them and bring them to justice." Other speakers 

included Dr. Mukund Mody, Dr. Bhupi Patel, Dr. Sushila Gidwani-Buschi, Dr. Najma 

Sultana, Deo Gosine and representatives of Queens Boro President Shulman and New 

York Governor Pattaki. An auction was conducted at the end of the meeing 

including two Executive Class tickets from Air India, RBC radios and several 

other books and a painting. GOPIO presented a check of $10,000 as the first 

instalment to American Red Cross.

The program was coordinated by Lal Motwani and compered by GOPIO' Secretary 

General Ashook Ramsaran and ITV Anchor person Renu Lobo. 

GOPIO can be contacted as follows:

GLOBAL ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN (GOPIO)

P.O. Box 1413, Stamford, 

CT 06904 , Tel: 203-329-8010, gopio@optonline.net

Please visit GOPIO website: www.gopio.net

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