LOS ANGELES AREA INDIAN COMMUNITY CELEBRATES AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

Indian American Heritage Foundation, in association with GOPIO Int'l, GOPIO-LA, GOPIO-IE, GOPIO-OC, Federation of Indian Community of Southern California, Indo American Social Association, Excel Foundation USA, Rajput Association of America, and Apna Punjabi Group organized American Independence Day celebration on July 04, 2019 at Joy of Sharing Community Center, Norwalk and also paid tribute to Indian pioneers and patriots who started India independence movement in the USA in the early 20^th century. The celebration included a seminar which covered topics such as America's war for Independence, Early Indian Immigration and Settlement, Struggle for US citizenship, Fight for India independence (Gadar Movement), Indian Americans' philanthropic Contributions to India and USA and Indian Americans who have made India and Indian Americans proud.

 

The seminar started at 11 am with national anthems of America and India by Henna Noor . Inder Singh, principal organizer of the event, in his welcome remarks, talked about Americans' sacrifices to gain freedom from the British. Many Americans lost their lives, properties, lifelong earnings during their fight for independence. He also talked about the early Indian immigrants' unimagined hardships, racial violence, bigotry, and discrimination which they faced in the USA.

Photo - Audience saluting as American natl.Anthem was sung

Vasu Pawar, President GOPIO Inland Empire spoke of American war for independence from the British. She said that the American colonies formed the First Continental Congress to persuade the British government to recognize their rights. When this didn't work, the Declaration of Independence was adopted o n July 4, 1776, and war was declared. Independence from Britain was won in 1783. The colonies became states and United States of America was born as a country. Ashok Madan, past president NFIA, spoke about Early Indian Immigration and Settlement Problems which Indian Immigrants faced when they came to in the United States in the beginning of twentieth century.

Rajbir S. Husson, President Indo American Social Association spoke about India Independence Movement known as Gadar Movement which was started in USA to free India from the yolks of British rule. After WW1 started in 1914, several thousand overseas Indians went to India to free their motherland from the British. The British spies foiled their attempt to throw the British out of India. Many were arrested, 48 were given death sentence, and 69 life imprisonment. Inder Singh talked about the sacrifices of heroes of Gadar movement, Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardyal. Rani Kuusto talked about Kartar Singh Sarabha, Aparna Hande spoke about Vishnu Ganesh Pingley and Dr. Asmath Noor talked about Maulvi Barkatullah.

 

A young high schooler Sagar Dhunna spoke about Freedom is not free and won the hearts of the audience. He said, we live the way we do today because of the many brave men and women that have sacrificed their lives. There is no doubt that we paid a huge price for this freedom.

 

Kewal Kanda, treasurer GOPIO-Int'l, spoke about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and reminded the audience that this year is the centenary year of that incidence. He also told the audience how Gen Dyer sealed off the only exit and indiscriminately fired 1650 rounds in 10 minutes without warning and massacred over 1000 innocent and unarmed people who had gathered there to celebrate Baisakhi. Mahatma Gandhi was so moved by this massacre it became prelude to his full commitment to the cause of Indian  nationalism  and independence from Britain. Charu Shivakumar, President Excel Foundation, spoke about the struggle of Indians for US citizenship. After a long struggle, a bill was passed in the US Congress in 1946 allowing 100 Indians to become US citizens annually. President Truman invited Sardar JJ Singh and Anup Singh who had been fighting to gain citizenship rights, to the White House on July 2, 1946 to witness the signing off the bill into law.

 

Photo - GOPIO Foundation Exec. Trustee Inder Singh

Dilip Butani, GOPIO Area Coordinator, Southern California, talked about philanthropic contributions of Indians, which far outweigh those of any other recent immigrant community to the USA. Inder Singh, made power point presentation and showed names of Indian Americans who have significantly contributed in the fields of science, sports, education, economy, agriculture, yoga, politics, and in several other fields of human endeavor. He said that all these people have made Indian Americans proud and also India for their achievements.

Photo - Seminar organizers 

About one hundred and fifty people attended the seminar. For many attendees, history of Indians in America as given in the seminar, was an eye opener. They had never known what early Indian immigrants went through and their struggle for American citizenship. Rajinder Dhunna, Baljinder Tahim, and Vilas Jadhav volunteered their time to help manage the event. A complimentary lunch was provided to all attendees.

 

Contact: Inder Singh, Executive Trustee, GOPIO Foundation, 818-708-3885, [email protected].

 

GOPIO-CT HOLDS A PICNIC WITH A FRIENDLY CRICKET MATCH

 

GOPIO-CT held its annual picnic in conjunction with a friendly cricket match between GOPIO-CT team vs Mad Dogs of Greenwich.at the Christiano field in Greenwich, CT. Mad Dogs bated and completed 30 over innings with over 160 runs. However, as GOPIO-CT started batting, rain stopped the game. Sanjay Santhanam served as Mad Dogs captain while Joe Simon was GOPIO-CT captain. Indian lunch was served. Overall it was fun event.

 

Photo: Some of the picnic attendees with the players

 

Contact: GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat, Tel: 203-524-2935, e-mail: [email protected]