WHAT is the unity and how does it manifest itself in its diversity?
How many non-sectarian or pan-ethnic desi-orgs in Houston ?
"we are Indians"
*** That is akin to Jewish Americans going about proclaiming
themselves Israelis or Germans or Ukrainians or Russians. At least
they have a commitment to their adopted land :-).
At 12:41 PM -0500 10/2/07, Alpana B. Sarangapani wrote:
>**** Can they?
>Is it a DEFINITIVE proof?
Haven't they been? What else is needed? That they chant "we are
Indians" everywhere they go, in addition to having this unique type
of "unity in diversity"?
"In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree
and humble like a blade of grass"
- Lakshmana
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:26:32 -0500
To: assam@assamnet.org
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Assam] In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism
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.ExternalClass ol, .ExternalClass li
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>Since Indians cannot unite as depicted by some
**** Can they?
Is it a DEFINITIVE proof?
At 10:21 AM -0700 10/2/07, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
The following article from the NYT caught my attention. Since
Indians cannot unite as depicted by some in this net, how do these
first generation Indians in USA manage to run an organization as
written here?
Comments from netters, especially those in California who may know
more about the group, will help us all in understanding better.
There may be organizations like this in the east coast too.
Dilip
From the New York Times
In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:26:32 -0500
To: assam@assamnet.org
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Assam] In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism
.ExternalClass blockquote, .ExternalClass dl, .ExternalClass ul,
.ExternalClass ol, .ExternalClass li
{padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;}
>Since Indians cannot unite as depicted by some
**** Can they?
Is it a DEFINITIVE proof?
At 10:21 AM -0700 10/2/07, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
The following article from the NYT caught my attention. Since
Indians cannot unite as depicted by some in this net, how do these
first generation Indians in USA manage to run an organization as
written here?
Comments from netters, especially those in California who may know
more about the group, will help us all in understanding better.
There may be organizations like this in the east coast too.
Dilip
From the New York Times
In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism
Heidi Schumann for The New York Times
A dance class at the India Community Center in Milpitas, Calif.,
which was created by Indian-Americans based on models by Jewish
groups.
by
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/neela_banerjee/index.html?inline=nyt-per>NEELA
BANERJEE
Published: October 2, 2007
When Anil Godhwani and his brother, Gautam, looked into creating a
community center for Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley, they turned
to the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco as a model.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/us/02hindu.html?th&emc=th#secondParagraph>Skip
to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Heidi Schumann for The New York Times
Rajiv Hora in a yoga class at the center, which promotes the variety
of Indian culture.
When the Hindu American Foundation began, it looked to groups like
the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/antidefamation_league/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Anti-Defamation
League and the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wiesenthal_simon_center/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Simon
Wiesenthal Center for guidance with its advocacy and lobbying
efforts.
Indian-Americans, who now number 2.4 million in this country, are
turning to American Jews as role models and partners in areas like
establishing community centers, advocating on civil rights issues
and lobbying Congress.
Indians often say they see a version of themselves and what they
hope to be in the experience of Jews in American politics: a small
minority that has succeeded in combating prejudice and building
political clout.
Sanjay Puri, the chairman of the U.S. India Political Action
Committee, said: "What the Jewish community has achieved politically
is tremendous, and members of Congress definitely pay a lot of
attention to issues that are important to them. We will use our own
model to get to where we want, but we have used them as a benchmark."
One instance of Indians following the example of Jews occurred last
year when Indian-American groups, including associations of doctors
and hotel owners, banded together with political activists to win
passage of the United States-India Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Act,
which allows New Delhi to buy fuel, reactors and other technology to
expand its civilian nuclear program.
"Indian-Americans have taken a page out of the Jewish community's
book to enhance relations between the homeland and the motherland,"
said Nissim B. Reuben, program officer for India-Israel-United
States Relations at the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_jewish_committee/index.html?inline=nyt-org>American
Jewish Committee and himself an Indian Jew.
The American Jewish Committee, like some other Jewish groups, has
worked with Indians on
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_and_refugees/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>immigration
and hate crimes legislation. It has taken three groups of
Indian-Americans to Israel, where they have met Arabs and
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/palestinians/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>Palestinians,
as well as Jews.
Many Indian-Americans, like the Godhwanis and others with the India
Community Center in Milpitas, Calif., have taken an avowedly
nonsectarian approach in creating institutions. But among Hindus,
who are a majority in India and among Indian-Americans here, some
assert that a vital bond they share with Jews is the threat to India
and Israel from Muslim terrorists.
"Some on both sides of the discussion feel that way, and take a
stance that is anti-Muslim or anti-terrorist, depending on your
point of view," said Nathan Katz, professor of religious studies at
Florida International University in Miami.
Most Jewish groups, however, have tried to avoid a sectarian cast to
their work with Indian-Americans. Instead, Jews said they were
struck by the parallels between the issues that Jews and Indians had
faced.
"It echoes 30 years ago," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean
of the Wiesenthal center. "There is the same feeling of a growing
community that says, 'We want our voices to be represented, and how
do we that?' "
For years, many Indians who immigrated to the United States in the
late 1960s and early 1970s considered India their home. Now, most
are rooted in the United States, as are their children, and they
have moved with astonishing speed into politics, said Representative
Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, where there is a large
Indian-American constituency. Mr. Pallone is a founder of the
Congressional Caucus on India. Representative Bobby Jindal,
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org>aRepublican
from Louisiana who is Indian-American, is running for governor of
his state, and Indian-Americans hold or are vying for other local
elected positions nationwide.
Indian-Americans have reached out to American Jews, in part, because
of the growing friendship between India and Israel, whose chilly
cold war relations began to thaw in the 1990s.
Indian and Israeli heads of state have recently visited each other's
countries. The countries have strengthened trade and intelligence
ties. In February, the chief rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger, met with
Hindu leaders in India, after which the Jewish and Hindu clerics
declared common beliefs, among them that their "respective
traditions teach that there is one supreme being." The statement was
a breakthrough because many Jews had long considered Hinduism a form
of idolatry, Professor Katz said.
Inspired by the Wiesenthal Center, which produces a CD annually that
compiles Internet hate speech, the Hindu American Foundation issued
its own report this year about "online hatred and bigotry against
Hindus," Suhag Shukla, the foundation's legal counsel, said. The
foundation also learned from the success of Jewish groups that it
needed a full-time staff member to lobby Congress.
The Hindu American Foundation is among those who contend that Jews
and Hindus are natural allies because of the common threat Israel
and India face from Islamic terrorists. "There are the shared
terrorist threats where we are the religious minority, for example
Jammu-Kashmir and Islamic terrorism there or the situation in
Israel," Ms. Shukla said, referring to the anti-Indian insurgency in
the northern state.
Those parallels disturb some Indian-Americans, who contend they veil
a deeper anti-Muslim sentiment.
"This makes me relatively suspicious, because there is the desire to
reduce the complexity of the issues in a conflict," said Vijay
Prashad, professor of South Asian history at Trinity College in
Hartford.
The India Community Center in Milpitas, Calif., represents the
nonsectarian approach many Indian-Americans take to replicating the
experience of American Jews. When Anil Godhwani began talking to
other Indians in Silicon Valley about opening a center, "more than
one person talked to us about making this a Hindu community center -
sometimes in very strong terms," he said. That was never his
intention, though he was raised Hindu.
A Silicon Valley millionaire who sold his company to Netscape in the
late 1990s, Mr. Godhwani said he and his brother envisioned a place
that promoted the variety of Indian culture to Indian-Americans and
non-Indians alike. The Godhwanis canvassed other ethnic centers and
the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/y/young_mens_christian_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Y.M.C.A.
But the Jewish Community Center model resonated with them. It
celebrated Jewish culture while avoiding the divisiveness of
politics and religion. And it welcomed outsiders. The India
Community Center occupies a 40,000-square-foot building that offers,
among other things, free medical care for the uninsured, Indian
language classes and Bollywood-style aerobics but keeps out
religious activities.
Talat Hassan, chairwoman of the center's board of trustees, said,
"Those of us who grew up in the '50s, '60s and '70s in India grew up
in a truly inclusive atmosphere, and that is the gift that India can
give to rest of the world: the ability to embrace diversity in very
deep way."
"Then we came here, and maybe India was changing in this way too,"
Ms. Hassan said, "but Indian-Americans were organized around
religion, and we found that to be very divisive. We thought there
should be a place where people can come together as
Indian-Americans, period, regardless of religion."
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