NEW DELHI (TIP):
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on August 20 slammed the Narendra Modi government for peddling the schemes and policies of UPA as its own, saying the rival which came to power by selling “false dreams” was now propagating falsehoods. Speaking at a conclave of women workers on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Sonia said, “We (UPA) did so much but some people laid a trap that misled the people.
Our work was ignored and those who showed false dreams sneaked ahead.” Keeping the pressure on the Modi regime, the Congress chief and former PM Manmohan Singh later spoke about rising communal incidents in different parts of the country at a function to confer the Rajiv Gandhi communal amity award to noted film director Muzaffar Ali. Sonia tore into the NDA government by telling the women’s gathering that the rival was unable to shed its habits and was showing the schemes of UPA as that of NDA.
Alluding to the PM’s stress on sanitation and toilets in his I-Day speech, she asked, “Who started Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan in every village? Who made construction of toilets a part of MGNREGA?” With loud cries of “we” in response, Sonia said Congress also championed the cause of women’s empowerment, listing initiatives like domestic violence law, women’s share in family inheritance, self-help groups as well as old-age pension and appointment of India’s first woman President and Speaker.
Sonia told workers that election victory and defeat were part of the game but the party would stick to its principles, listing women’s quota as its priority. “Today, we are in opposition but we will not back out on our pledge and will put pressure on NDA to pass the women’s quota bill,” she said. Rahul Gandhi said sexual assault and rapes had to be exterminated from society.
He lamented that people worshipped women as goddesses but also perpetrated sexual crimes on them. He accused BJP of wanting to keep women at home, without power and education, while Congress wants them to be free and empowered. Meanwhile, Manmohan Singh expressed concern over rising communal incidents, saying it pointed to the need for greater effort to build bonds of trust and friendship between communities.
Month: August 2014
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BJP SOLD FALSE DREAMS, SONIA SAYS
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US GURDWARAS ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN TO CHANGE PERCEPTION OF SIKHS AND PLEDGE FINANCIAL BACKING
WASHINGTON (TIP):
Gurdwaras across the country convened in Washington D.C. August 16-17for an unprecedented grassroots meeting called by the newly formed National Sikh Campaign (NSC) to shape the Sikh image in America. Over 100 Representatives from Gurdwaras from all over the United States pledged their support to the National Sikh Campaign’s plan to engage top US political operatives and media firms for presenting the community positively.
During the strategy session, Geoff Garin of Hart Research, who served as Hillary Clinton’s former top political strategist and Isaac Baker of AKPD Message and Media, President Obama’s media firm, outlined a roadmap of how Sikhs can change perceptions in the United States and how crucial the campaign will be to the future of Sikhs. Mr. Garin, also gave the meeting’s participants an exclusive update on the National Sikh Campaign’s groundbreaking messaging research that will underpin the effort and inform the community how it can effectively communicate to the American public.
Gurwin Ahuja, Executive Director of the National Sikh Campaign, while welcoming the Sikh leaders, said, “The Sikh community in US has never been more educated, more wealthy, and more successful than today and we’ve also never had this many Gurdwara leaders together in a room. We have never been more primed to do something big. This is perhaps the first time a thorough scientific data will be made available to the community within and without to set the next path of our campaign.”
After hearing from the strategists, the meeting held a closed door strategy session, which lasted several hours and focused on specific action steps to make lasting change in the United States. Sikh Leaders worked together to create a realistic region by region breakdown of US Gurdwaras and fundraising strategies were also discussed and approved to reach an overall target of $5 Million USD.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, President of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education and Senior Advisor to NSC, who facilitated the discussion among the Gurdwara leaders, said, “The consensus was that there is a critical need for this kind of media strategy for the Sikh community. Secondly, all possible efforts need to be made to include as many Gurdwaras as possible in the network as partners.
Thirdly, our goal is to keep the focus on introducing Sikhism and the Sikh identity while showing the positive contribution of the community in the media.” He added, “Almost every person said that this type of campaign should have been launched long time ago and would have prevented many hardships that many members of the community have had to face since 9/11.” Dr. Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, President of the Oak Creek Gurdwara from Wisconsin, said, “As I understood the aim of the campaign is to counteract the negative image and perceptions Americans have about Sikhs and Sikhism and create a positive image of Sikhs and our faith.
We are 100% behind this campaign. It is well conceived and planned and I am sure it will also be well executed by the team. This is about taking a proactive approach, or as in medicine we would say, a preventative approach– ‘Prevention is better than a cure’ approach. Hopefully that will prevent future tragedies for our people.” Sikh representatives came from the following states: Illinois, Connecticut, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Delaware, and over 70 people joined from others states over the phone.
In addition, 30 youth from high school and college age held their separate meeting as part of the organizing for this campaign. Gagan Kaur, an active leader at Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, who attended the meeting said, “I think what stuck with me the most about this conference was watching the transformation in people’s perceptions and attitudes by the end of the conference.
It was obvious that the organizers had done their homework as everyone left feeling excited and ready to do their part for the campaign in their respective states and organizations.” She continued, “We have waited long enough- now is the time to stop the victim mentality and become proactive in how we are perceived. I urge all Sikhs to take this campaign seriously and make sure that our voice is heard.”
Another attendee from the Sikh Religious Society in Chicago, Jasvir Kaur Singh, said “I was honored to be a part of the strategy session. It’s long overdue that Sikh organizations and Gurdwaras work together to take a proactive approach to the challenges Sikhs face in America. This was the first time I’ve attended a Sikh event where we hoped to check our egos at the door and have a candid conversation about the lack of progress we’ve made despite our attempts and personal, professional successes.”
Dr. Inderpal Singh, President of the Gurdwara in Atlanta, GA said: “This Campaign will provide research-based solutions to the awareness crisis facing the Sikh community in America and all over the world. We have a story to share about the Sikh values, which are American values. The National Sikh Campaign is our hope and aspiration for a better world through awareness and collaboration.”
Swaranjit Singh Khalsa of the Sikh Sewak Society International based in Connecticut stated “The National Sikh Campaign will not only educate our fellow Americans about Sikhism but I think this will also provide a common platform to all Sikhs institutes to work together and show their unity.” Surinder Singh, treasurer of NSC, said, “Each moment in which something happens is the right moment. It is relevant to our current effort, no matter how belated. There is unity of purpose and now we have to create harmony of actions. This will be relevant to our collaborative effort and participation by the entire community.”
Jivan Singh Achreja, the National Strategy Director who facilitated the fundraising strategy, said, ” Although the task of raising 5 million dollars seems difficult, looking at the overwhelming response we have seen since this campaign was launched in March 2014, this task seems surmountable. A large section of the community will be tapped through Gurdwaras and online sources in a creative fundraising strategy that will involve all levels of the community.”
Dr. Manjeet Kaur of North Carolina said “I am so pleased to see that Gurdwaras and representatives from throughout the world showed that they are willing to come together and work on this project with full enthusiasm for the future. Only by working together can we achieve lasting change in this country. This cause is too vast to be done alone, only through the combined effort of the US sangat (community) can we make this a reality.” Charandeep Singh from Sikh Channel in the UK left the meeting saying, “The National Sikh Campaign has marked a historically important first step in changing the American perception of the Sikh identity.
A clear, transparent and achievable funding structure has been developed requiring support from the global Sikh Diaspora. This endeavor is imperative for the future of the American and ultimately global Sikh community.” The meeting also heard presentations from Gurwin Singh Ahuja, the Executive Director, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Senior Adviser, Jivan Achreja, National Strategy Director, and Surinder Singh, Treasurer. The event was organized by Misha Kaur, Nuri Kaur, Sehejneet Kaur, Hana Kaur, Jagjot Kaur, Jasraj Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Maninder Singh, and Harpreet Singh. -
Vijay Jolly calls on US Congressmen & Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee Mr. Edward R. Royce
LOS ANGELES (TIP):
OFBJP Global Convenor Vijay Jolly arrived here August 20th, from Vancouver to a rousing welcome at LA Int’l Airport. OFBJP US President Chandra Kant Patel, LA Convenor P. K. Nayak along with a large contingent of BJP supporters received OFBJP leader Jolly with bouquets. Vijay Jolly drove to the residence of US Congressmen & Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee Edward R. Royce here. Both leaders had a 45 minutes long meeting on Indo-US relations.
They also discussed the forthcoming US visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi latter in the month of Sep 2014. Edward Royce is also the Chairman of India Caucus in US. Congressman expressed a keen desire to meet & welcome PM Modi along with Foreign Affairs Committee members in Washington D.C. Jolly promised to convey this to the Indian officials arranging the PM’s US visit. Jolly also extended an invitation to the Congressman to attend the Sunday 28th September public program organized by Indian American Community Foundation for NAMO Swagatam at Madison Square Garden, New York. He accepted the invite with a smile & warm handshake.
Vijay Jolly also visited the LA Chino Hills located BAPS Swami Narayan Temple and offered floral greetings on behalf of BJP President Amit Shah. Swami Sarv Darshan, head of the BAPS temple blessed the OFBJP leader and his mission in US. Latter in the evening a grand public program organized in support of NAMO’s September visit was addressed by Jolly in downtown Los Angles. Jolly attended a successful OFBJP Vancouver, Canada program celebrating 68th India Independence Day at Surrey in British Columbia .
The Indian Consul General Ravi S. Aisola attended the program. A book in Punjabi language on PM Modi was released by Jolly at a crowded public program. A large contingent of Indians led by Aditya Tawatia, OFBJP President Vancouver and owner of Radio India Maninder Gill pledged to participate in the NAMO program in US on 28th September, 2014 in New York. -
PAKISTAN IMPASSE CONTINUES
ISLAMABAD (TIP): ‘I will free Pakistan from the dictatorship of Nawaz Sharif who is the fake prime minister,’ says Imran. And Sharif does not want to let go. With the result, there is terrible uneasiness and anxiety as to what lies in future for Pakistan. Less than half a day after meeting each other, the government and Pakistan Tehreeki- Insaf (PTI) on Thursday, August 21 suspended their committee-level talks and were back to exchanging barbs.
While Imran Khan continued his tirade against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and others, the PTI negotiating team held a brief press conference to announce the suspension of talks. However, the PTI leaders left the door open by saying that if their two reservations were addressed (later the party increased them to four), the dialogue could be resumed.
However, the government did not react nervously to the PTI’s announcement of suspension. Addressing the media outside the parliament house, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that Khan was simply looking for excuses and that his crowds on D-Chowk were thinning out. The government, the minister claimed, had from the first day shown flexibility, be it its willingness to talk or its decision to not use force but the other side kept changing its goal posts.
It is not clear as to how and when a dialogue could be resumed and negotiations will head for a resolution of the situation. Pakistan is on tenterhooks until the thorny issue is resolved. Meanwhile, the military called for calm after protesters breached the Red Zone that houses important government buildings including the parliament house, prime minister house, president house, the supreme court besides embassies. “Situation requires patience, wisdom and sagacity from all stakeholders to resolve prevailing impasse through meaningful dialogue in larger national and public interest,” military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa tweeted. -
GOPIO-Metro DC sponsors Odissi-style Yoga-Dance Program
WASHINGTON (TIP):
The Metro Washington, DC, Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-Metro DC) sponsored a Yoga in Dance program at a capacity filled auditorium of a community center in Rockville, MD on Saturday, July 26, 2014. It was a real delight to watch the strenuous, yet highly precise sequences of dances with facial expressions and movements of hands and feet with music. Classical dance in India has traditionally been viewed as a form of Yoga.
Yoga, is one of intense Sadhana, or spiritual discipline, which demands complete physical and mental concentration for the practitioner. These dance forms are rooted in spirituality, the ultimate goal being Mokshya, or spiritual liberation for the performer and the audience alike. When examining a traditional Odissi repertoire, one can see the process through which the artists achieve their ultimate goal of spiritual liberation.
Ten members (five male dancers, three female dancers, Guru Bichitrananda Swain and Jaydev Das) of The Rudrakshya Institute of Art and Dance, Orissa performed Indian Classical Dances in Odissi style for over two hours presenting seven different items. These items included: Mangalacharan, Chandrika Kamodi, Mohan Murali Chhailo, Taal Tarang, Shiva Panchal, Samudita Madane Abhinaya, and Mokshya.
Troupe performing a dance
On behalf of the organizers, Dr. Renuka Misra, GOPIO International Coordinator, presented bouquets to the troupe members. The program was organized by Mr. Pratap Das, president of the Indian Performing Arts Promotions (IPAP). The APAP was established by members of the GOPIO-Metro DC in 1996 to promote performing arts activities in Metropolitan Washington area. -
Kerry arrives in Afghanistan to meet candidates
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (TIP): The US and its allies are growing increasingly concerned as Afghanistan shows signs of unraveling in its first democratic transfer of power from President Hamid Karzai. With Iraq wracked by insurgency, Afghanistan’s dispute over election results poses a new challenge to President Barack Obama’s effort to leave behind two secure states while ending America’s long wars. US Secretary of State John Kerry made a hastily arranged visit to Afghanistan on Friday to help resolve the election crisis, which is sowing chaos in a country that the US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars and lost more than 2,000 lives trying to stabilize. He was to meet with the two candidates claiming victory in last month’s presidential election runoff.
“I’ve been in touch with both candidates several times as well as President (Hamid) Karzai,” Kerry said before leaving Beijing, where he attended a USChina economic meeting. He called on them to “show critical statesmanship and leadership at a time when Afghanistan obviously needs it.” “This is a critical moment for the transition, which is essential to future governance of the country and the capacity of the (US and its allies) to be able to continue to be supportive and be able to carry out the mission which so many have sacrificed so much to achieve.” With Iraq wracked by insurgency, Afghanistan’s power dispute over the election results is posing a new challenge to President Barack Obama’s 5 1/2-year effort to leave behind two secure nations while ending America’s long wars in the Muslim world. -
Sri Lanka to refuse entry to UN investigators: President
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (TIP): Sri Lanka will not grant visas to UN investigators probing war crimes allegedly committed during the island’s decades-long separatist conflict, President Mahinda Rajapakse said on August 19. “We will not allow them into the country,” said Rajapakse, who is under international pressure to cooperate with the UN-mandated investigation.
Sri Lanka has refused to accept the authority of the UN Human Rights Council which voted in March to probe allegations that the military killed 40,000 civilians in the final months of the separatist war, which ended in 2009. But it is the first time that Rajapakse has said UN investigators will not be allowed into the country, effectively barring them from face-to-face access to Sri Lankans wanting to testify in the probe. Rajapakse said however that his government was cooperating with all other UN agencies.
“We are saying that we do not accept it (the probe). We are against it,” he told Colombo-based foreign correspondents at his official residence. “But when it comes to other UN agencies, we are always ready to fully cooperate and fully engage with them,” he said. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and other leaders have urged Colombo to cooperate with the UNHRC after ending a prolonged separatist war that pitted ethnic minority Tamil rebels and the largely Sinhalese army in a drawn out ethnic war.
Outgoing UN rights chief Navi Pillay earlier this month suggested that her investigators looking into allegations of mass killings may not have to travel to Sri Lanka at all. She said there was a “wealth of information” outside the country. Her remarks prompted allegations from Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry that her probe was on a “preconceived trajectory” and that her “prejudice and lack of objectivity” were unfortunate. -
Pakistan crisis puts army back in the driving seat
ISLAMABAD (TIP): As tens of thousands of protesters advanced on the Pakistani capital last week to demand his resignation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dispatched two emissaries to consult with the army chief. He wanted to know if the military was quietly engineering the twin protest movements by cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan and activist cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, or if, perhaps, it was preparing to stage a coup.
According to a government insider with a firsthand account of the meeting, Sharif’s envoys returned with good news and bad: there will be no coup, but if he wants his government to survive, from now on it will have to “share space with the army”. Even if, as seems likely, the Khan and Qadri protests eventually fizzle out due to a lack of overt support from the military, the prime minister will emerge weakened from the crisis.
The army may have saved his skin, but its price will be subservience to the generals on issues he wanted to handle himself — from the fight against the Taliban to relations with arch foe India and Pakistan’s role in neighbouring, post-NATO Afghanistan. “The biggest loser will be Nawaz, cut down to size both by puny political rivals and the powerful army,” said a government minister who asked not to be named. “From this moment on, he’ll always be looking over his shoulder.” A year ago, few would have predicted that Sharif would be in such trouble: back then, he had just swept to power for a third time in a milestone poll that marked nuclear-armed Pakistan’s first transition from one elected government to another.
But in the months that followed, Sharif — who had crossed swords with the army in the past — moved to enhance the clout of the civilian government in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history. He irked the generals by putting former military head Pervez Musharraf, who had abruptly ended his last stint as prime minister in a 1999 coup, on trial for treason. Sharif also opposed a military offensive to crush Taliban insurgents, sided with a media group that had accused the military of shooting one of its journalists and sought reconciliation with India, the perceived threat that the army uses to justify its huge budget and national importance. -
Nepal flood toll hits 101, fears of disease rise
KATMANDU (TIP): Nepalese authorities said Monday they feared an outbreak of diseases as they attempt to reach thousands of people stranded by flooding that has already killed more than 100 people. The swirling floodwaters have even crossed into neighboring India, submerging farmland and hundreds of villages. At least 84 Indians have died, either from the floodwaters or from torrential rains, authorities said. Jhanka Nath Dhakal of Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center said four helicopters with food, emergency supplies, medicine and medical workers were sent to villages in the west of the country. Rescuers were also attempting to reach the villages by road. However, most of the highways and rural roads are either submerged or damaged by the flooding, preventing vehicles from passing.
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US official: More airstrikes in Iraq
WASHINGTON (TIP):
American fighter jets and drones continued to pound Islamic State militants in Iraq on August 20, and military planners weighed the possibility of sending a small number of additional US troops to Baghdad, US officials said, even as the insurgents threatened to kill a second American captive in retribution for any continued attacks.
The airstrikes came in the hours after militants released a gruesome video Tuesday showing US journalist James Foley being beheaded and underscored President Barack Obama’s vow on Wednesday afternoon to continue attacks against the group despite its threats. According to a senior US official, the number of additional troops currently under discussion would be fewer than 300, but there has been no final decision yet by Pentagon leaders.
Officials said that the forces were requested by the State Department and, if approved, would mainly provide extra security around Baghdad. The 14 latest airstrikes were in the area of the Mosul Dam and were aimed at helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces create a buffer zone at the key facility. The strikes, which now total 84 since operations began, have helped Iraqi and Kurdish troops reclaim the dam from the insurgents.
The militants threatened to kill Steven Sotloff, an American journalist who is also being held captive, if the US continued to conduct airstrikes.The officials were not authorized to discuss the ongoing operations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was not clear Wednesday if Obama would have to adjust his recent notifications to Congress under the War Powers Act to accommodate the higher US troop level in Iraq if more soldiers and Marines are deployed. There are about 748 US forces in Iraq, in addition to the approximately 100 troops that have routinely been assigned to the Office of Security Cooperation in Baghdad. -
Obama unlikely to deepen Iraq military involvement, say US officials
WASHINGTON (TIP):
Despite outrage at home and abroad over the grisly beheading of an American journalist, President Barack Obama is unlikely to deepen military involvement in Iraq or Syria and will instead stay the course with US air strikes, US officials say. US officials appeared rattled by the video posted on social media on Tuesday showing a masked, black-clad militant executing James Foley, 40, and declaring war against the United States in retaliation for nearly two weeks of US air strikes on jihadist targets in Iraq.
But several administration officials said there were no plans to significantly alter the US campaign against Islamic State militants who have seized a third of Iraq since June, or to expand military action to neighboring Syria, where the group has gained strength during its brutal civil war. “From a military perspective, I don’t think this is going to change anything,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.
“The military objective never was to degrade ISIL,” the official said, using another name for the militant group. “It was to protect US personnel and facilities.” Obama called Islamic State a “cancer” with a bankrupt ideology at a news conference on Wednesday. He described Iraqis waging a fight against Islamic state, with US support. Not long after he spoke, the Pentagon said US aircraft conducted 14 air strikes in the vicinity of Iraq’s Mosul Dam, destroying or damaging militants’ Humvees, trucks and explosives.
Obama’s decision to forego a direct military response to the killing underscores the White House’s aversion to becoming more entangled in the mayhem gripping both Iraq and Syria. Since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, the White House has stressed the limitations of US power to shape events in the Middle East, pushing back against criticism of its muted response to bloodshed there.
In Syria, where an estimated 170,000 people have died in three years, the president has shied away from using US military might, even after accusing Assad of using chemical weapons against civilians. US officials instead have tried to broker a diplomatic deal and, with more success, sought to eliminate Assad’s chemical stockpiles. -
Oceanside’s Andrew T. Berman named to New York Life’s Executive council
OCEANSIDE, NY (TIP):
Andrew T. Berman has been named a member of the 2014 Executive Council of New York Life Insurance Company. Members of the Executive Council are among the most successful of New York Life’s elite sales force of 12,250 licensed agents. Berman has been a New York Life agent since 2012, and is associated with New York Life’s Greater New York General Office in Midtown Manhattan.
Berman works with business owners highly compensated sales professionals (with an emphasis in real estate and mortgage sectors) and local families in the area of life insurance, retirement planning, college planning and business planning. He resides in Oceanside, N.Y. with his two daughters and wife who inspire him to help other successful professionals like himself. “I’m honored to receive this recognition” said Berman. “My clients have trusted me for their financial and insurance needs, and for that, I would like to thank them.
At a young age, I learned that we need to fight to keep every hard earned dollar that we earn in our pocket, to protect against worst case scenarios and plan for the future.” Please visit Andrew’s Web site at andrewtberman.com for more information. New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world.
New York Life has the highest possible financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aaa), Standard & Poor’s (AA+). Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance.
New York Life Investments provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as retail mutual funds. Please visit New York Life’s Web site at www.newyorklife.com for more information. -
TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY TURNS HIMSELF IN; PLEADS ‘NOT GUILTY’
AUSTIN (TIP):
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has pleaded “not guilty” to felony counts that he abused his authority to try to force out the Travis County district attorney. Perry entered the plea in a document filed in state district court in which he also waived his Friday arraignment in the case.
The Republican governor was booked Tuesday, August 19 after being indicted on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, and one count of coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 10 years in prison. Perry repeatedly has suggested the indictment is outrageous, saying he acted properly.
The waiver of arraignment, filed by his lawyer David L. Botsford, is dated Tuesday, August 19. Perry has hired a high-powered legal team to deal with the indictment and is keeping up a busy travel schedule as he eyes a possible 2016 presidential bid. Plans call for him to be in New Hampshire Friday, August 22.
The case involves Perry’s promise last year to veto funding for a public corruption unit overseen by Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg unless she resigned in the wake of an ugly drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea. Lehmberg served time but stayed in office.
Perry vetoed the money for the Public Integrity Unit, saying Lehmberg had lost the public’s confidence. Texans for Public Justice, a liberal government accountability group, filed a criminal complaint saying that Perry was wrong to use his power to try to force out a locally elected official. A grand jury indicted Perry last Friday, August 15. -
U.S. Military Conducts Air strikes Against ISIL near Mosul Dam
WASHINGTON (TIP):
U.S. military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in support of Iraqi Security Force operations, using fighter and attack aircraft to conduct six air strikes in the vicinity of the Mosul Dam, an August 21 press release off US Central Command said. The strikes destroyed or damaged three ISIL Humvees, one ISIL vehicle, and multiple IED emplacements. All aircraft exited the strike area safely.
These strikes were conducted under authority to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense force operations, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities, and support humanitarian efforts. Since Aug. 8, U.S. Central Command has conducted a total of 90 air strikes across Iraq. Of those 90 strikes, 57 have been in support of Iraqi forces near the Mosul Dam. -
India must never be a ‘Hindu Pakistan’
By Inder Malhotra
Modi should restrain Bhagwat & others
Mr. Bhagwat at first propounded the strange theory that since every citizen of America is called American and that of Germany is known as German, every citizen of Hindustan “must be called a Hindu”. Someone should explain to this learned gentleman that by his own logic citizens of Hindustan should be known as Hindustanis, not Hindus”, says the author
When Narendra Modi was swept to power spectacularly just over three months ago high hopes of an early improvement in both development and governance were accompanied by some fears that Hindutva hotheads and other extremists in the Sangh Parivar might try to queer the pitch by promoting the cult of “Hindu Rashtra”. Sadly, this seems to be coming to pass, not by the efforts of only foot soldiers and fringe elements.
The minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was the first to talk of repealing Article 370 of the Constitution that gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status. This produced a reaction in the sensitive state so vehement that the state’s Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, and his father and then Union Cabinet minister Farooq Abdullah, even threatened secession.
This did not deter another minister to propose that it was time to have a uniform civil code, inviting another furore. Then something startling happened, of all places, in Goa. A BJP leader there announced that Mr. Modi would make India a “Hindu State” before the end of his first term. He was upstaged by the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, who blandly stated that this was already the case. Obviously, no one took him seriously because the international president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ashok Singhal, mounted the rostrum to declare that the Muslims had citizenship rights in this “Hindu” country, but they also had the duty to accept Hindutva’s doctrines and demands.
One specific demand he made was that, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya out of the way, “the Muslim community should willingly give up two other mosques in the holy cities of Varanasi and Mathura”. In Parliament and elsewhere Opposition members and people continued to ask Prime Minister Modi to say something about these “objectionable and divisive” declarations but he continued to maintain his eloquent silence.
A few of those who claimed to know him pointed out that to remain silent was both his strategy and style. This reading seemed to be correct. For Parliament’s first session ended on a very sharp note just before Independence Day. The Congress and other Opposition parties condemned his government for having encouraged both polarisation and increasing communal violence since its very formation. His ministers retorted that the greatest communalist in the country was the Congress. But while speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister dealt with the burning issue very briefly.
He appealed to everyone to embark on a ten-year moratorium on all violence whether the “poison” be casteism, communalism, regionalism or discrimination of any kind because all these “are obstructions in our way forward”. This attracted no criticism although some did ask: “Why should there be a moratorium for a limited number of years? Why not get rid of all these evils permanently”? Ironically, it was at this precise moment that the leadership of the campaign to Hinduise the Indian state – that under the Constitution has to be secular – was taken over by the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat.
He is the head of the entire Sangh Parivar of which the Bharatiya Janata Party is but one member. Nor has it gone unnoticed that the new BJP president, Amit Shah, who is also the right-hand man of Mr. Modi, has given the RSS representation in his team that is greater than ever before. Mr. Bhagwat at first propounded the strange theory that since every citizen of America is called American and that of Germany is known as German, every citizen of Hindustan “must be called a Hindu”.
Someone should explain to this learned gentleman that by his own logic citizens of Hindustan should be known as Hindustanis, not Hindus. No America would call himself/herself as an “Am” or the German as “Ger”. If every Indian is called a Hindustani there would be no problem. Followers of the Hindu religion in this country are a huge majority of over 80 per cent. But the rest are Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Parsis and so on. To call them Hindus would be an invitation not to a disaster but to a catastrophe.
Probably for this reason the RSS chief changed his tune. “Hindustan (he has stopped using the names India or Bharat)”, he proclaimed, “is a Hindu state and Hidutva is the identity of our nation … and it (Hinduism) can incorporate in itself other religions”. No fewer than seven political parties, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the CPM, have lambasted Mr. Bhagwat for planning to “impose Hindu majoritarianism” on the country. Several Opposition leaders have called him “Hitler” and a radical Sikh organisation, Dal Khalsa, has declared that it would not allow the RSS to “foist its fascist agenda on Punjab”.
This said, one must add that communalism of every religious community is equally dangerous and deplorable. The entire Kashmiri Pandit minority was hounded out of the Kashmir valley two decades ago. The Pandits have become refugees in their own country, and their return to their homes remains problematic. Some Sikhs in Punjab have made a film glorifying the assassins of Indira Gandhi that cannot but cause trouble.
In all fairness, it must also be recognised that the Congress that ruled the country for the last 10 years must accept its share of responsibility for encouraging the votaries of Hindutva. It always declared that its fight against the BJP was a contest between secularism and communalism. But, as former Defence Minister A. K. Antony, who investigated the causes of the Congress party’s electoral debacle has admitted, the Congress’ practice of secularism was more rhetorical than real.
The country perceived it as the “appeasement of Muslim minority”. Whatever might have happened in the past, the two sides must learn a lesson from what the Pakistani Taliban have done to that Islamic country in the name of Islam. India doesn’t deserve that. -
Indo-Pak Talks: The problem is with the Pakistani mindset
Pakistan has made little effort to create the right atmosphere for the foreign secretary-level talks. Frequent cease-fire violations on the line of control have created a background of tension that erodes the seriousness of efforts to resume political level negotiations”, says the author
By Kanwal Sibal
Prime Minister Modi extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan immediately after his electoral triumph by inviting Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony and agreeing to hold foreign secretary level talks. This despite the experience of a sterile dialogue with Pakistan all these years and the mixed messages from Nawaz Sharif himself who, while expressing his desire to normalise relations with India, has been emphasising his intention to escalate the Kashmir issue politically .
Frequent cease-fire violations on the line of control have created a background of tension that erodes the seriousness of efforts to resume political level negotiations. How Nawaz Sharif reconciles these two contradictory strategies is unclear. Pakistan cannot say that it wants to turn a page with India while determined to read from the same wellworn text on Kashmir dating back several decades. If Nawaz Sharif as a Muslim Leaguer cannot disregard his family and party links with jihadi groups and this compels him to agitate the Kashmir issue, then Sharif the businessman, with Pakistan’s economic interests in mind, cannot move very far with India.
In dealing with Pakistan we are always caught half-cock between rude reality and wishful thinking and hence the inconsistencies of our policies towards that country. Pakistan has made little effort to create the right atmosphere for the foreign secretary-level talks. Frequent cease-fire violations on the line of control have created a background of tension that erodes the seriousness of efforts to resume political level negotiations.
Pakistan has refused to move forward on relatively doable trade issues by perversely linking MFN status for India to prior settlement of its complaints relating to non-tariff barriers (NTBs), customs procedures, business visas and trade imbalance. India itself has issues of NTBs, market access and business visas with many developed countries, and has a severe trade imbalance with China, although we have given each other MFN status decades ago.
The problem is with the Pakistani mindset, not the merits of the issues involved. The Pakistan High Commissioner (HC), under instructions from his government, decided to poke us in the eye on the Hurriyat issue before the FSlevel talks. Nawaz Sharif had not met the separatists when he came to Delhi in May as the occasion did not lend itself to such a provocation. The HC was seeking to redress this omission. Pakistan is aware of our sensitivities on the issue as we have remonstrated with them publicly when its leaders have met the Kashmiri antinational elements in the past.
It has disregarded our protests and the previous governments, wedded to a dialogue with Pakistan, have swallowed this affront. Pakistan has not taken into consideration that there is a new government in Delhi and the liberties it took with the previous one cannot be taken with the new one… Through this gesture of hobnobbing with the separatists Pakistan sends many signals: That Kashmir is not India’s internal matter, that these elements represent the true Kashmiri sentiments, that those who do not accept Indian sovereignty over Kashmir are the true representatives of the Kashmiri people and that Pakistan is willing to openly meet secessionists even in the Indian capital while, on its part, condemning imaginary Indian support for Baluchi separatists.
Pakistan has not taken into consideration that there is a new government in Delhi and the liberties it took with the previous one cannot be taken with the new one, however much Shri Modi is keen to work with Pakistan on a different and more positive agenda. In any case, with the Nawaz Sharif government embattled in Islamabad by the dual-street challenge from Imran Khan and Tahirul-Qadri and fighting for its existence, it was pointless to hold these talks at this juncture. Pakistan could hardly give a positive direction to these talks when the government’s survival would be better served by a hard line with India. It is good that the talks have been called off. -
RSS Influence over the BJP
Despite the nominal distance it maintains from the organisations of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS ensures that its writ runs where it matters: in the BJP governments at the Centre and in the States. The influence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on the Bharatiya Janata Party is always greater during periods when the party is in power. While the Sangh is sometimes ready to appear twice removed from the government, it is keen to exercise control over the party’s organisational affairs.
Little surprise then, the newly elected president of the BJP, Amit Shah, chose to pack the top rung of the party with those from the Sangh. Former RSS spokesman Ram Madhav is now general secretary and ideologue Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is vice-president; four of the joint secretaries (organisation) are RSS members without much of a background of work in the party. Despite the nominal distance it maintains from the organisations of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS ensures that its writ runs where it matters: in the BJP, and in the BJP governments at the Centre and in the States.
With its organisational strength, and the large number of committed cadre, the RSS is the backbone of the BJP, and not just an ideological mentor. In the 2014 general election, workers of the RSS and its affiliates threw their weight behind the BJP and contributed in no small measure to the party’s revival in States such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
It was only natural for the BJP, especially Mr. Shah who was in charge of the party’s electoral management in Uttar Pradesh, to recognise this fact and accommodate RSS leaders in the decision-making structure of the party. What is problematic, however, is how the RSS will wield its influence in the BJP to remote-control the government. Mr. Shah enjoys a close rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it is feared he might indeed function as an extra-constitutional authority. Now, with the BJP being led by RSS hands, the party’s influence on the government can only get bigger.
Decision-making may not be confined to the Cabinet or legislative bodies, but may extend to party forums and Sangh meetings. Going by the statement of RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat that Hindutva is India’s identity, the RSS’s relations with the BJP and, by extension, with the government, could raise serious concerns in the public mind, and particularly among minorities. Prime Minister Modi spoke of ruling by consensus and not by the party’s majority in the Lok Sabha, but statements such as those made by Mr. Bhagwat seeking to equate Hindutva with Indianness and Hindustanis (Indians) with Hindus can only create doubts whether the BJP intends to return to a divisive majoritarian agenda.
Mr. Modi and the BJP need to distance themselves from such statements if these are not to be taken as reflective of the thinking of the ruling establishment. Otherwise, the Sangh, the BJP and the government would be widely seen as just different forms of the same entity. -
NASSAU COUNTY FACES $71.6 MILLION DEFICIT
MINEOLA, NY (TIP):
Long Island newspaper Newsday in its August 20 edition has reported that Nassau County is facing a $71.6 million deficit by year’s end after a three-year employee wage freeze was lifted and sales tax revenues cratered, the county legislature’s budget office reported yesterday. The projected deficit does not include the estimated cost of $70 million in commercial tax refunds, which the county traditionally has paid by borrowing, according to a midyear report by the legislature’s bipartisan Office of Budget Review.
“County finances are at a crossroad,” said Budget Review director Maurice Chalmers in the 9-page report. Although County Executive Edward Mangano has taken steps to increase revenues and cut expenses, Chalmers wrote “the county has lost its financial flexibility to absorb uncertainties.” Budget Review’s projected $71.6 million deficit comes after County Comptroller George Maragos predicted a $77 million year-end gap while the county’s control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, warned that $133 million is “at risk” in this year’s budget.
NIFA in May approved new contracts for four of the county’s five unions — and is poised to approve a fifth deal for correction officers — that ended the wage freeze in return for concessions expected to save millions of future dollars. Although Mangano moved to cover immediate costs by raising fees and installing speed cameras in school zones, the Office of Budget Review predicts salary expenses will exceed the budget by $39.3 million this year. Meanwhile, county sales tax collections fell 9 percent for the first six months of 2014, leading Budget Review to predict a $70 million shortfall by year’s end.
Chalmers, who could not be reached Wednesday, urged county officials in his report to “implement long-term solutions that lead to a structurally balanced budget.” Tim Sullivan, Mangano’s deputy county executive for finance, said yesterday, “The administration is preparing a budget for 2015 that will include corrective actions to address the sales tax shortage.” Mangano must submit his proposed 2015 budget by Sept. 15. NIFA chairman Jon Kaiman, who was at the county executive building August 19, said via email: “Wage increases are being covered as per our agreement with the county.
I have every expectation that those costs will, in fact, be met. Sales tax shortfalls must also be addressed. I’ve met with the county executive on this in regard to putting forward a plan to address this situation.” But Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who was the legislature’s presiding officer when NIFA was formed by the state in 2000 to be Nassau’s fiscal watchdog, said she wants NIFA members to “remember what NIFA was actually created for. NIFA has to do its job also. We don’t need a wish list and a ‘maybe’ list. We need positive, provable solutions.” -
MACY’S TO PAY $650,000 TO SETTLE COMPLAINTS OF RACIAL PROFILING
NEW YORK (TIP):
Macy’s must pay a $650,000 fine to settle complaints that its staffers wrongfully accused minority shoppers of stealing. New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman started to investigate Macy’s, which has 42 stores in New York State, in February 2013 after receiving complaints about racial profiling.
“The office has received complaints from close to two dozen African-American, Latino and other customers who are members of ethnic minority groups who claimed that they had been apprehended and detained at Macy’s, despite not having stolen or having attempted to steal any Macy’s merchandise,” Schneiderman said in a press release.
Customers alleged that staffers at the flagship store in Herald Square in Manhattan “detained and falsely accused minorities at far greater rates than white customers of committing crimes,” according to the release Macy’s will also have to designate an independent expert and hire a full-time security monitor to ensure that the retailer complies with the settlement.The settlement comes just one month after Macy’s settled with Rob Brown, an actor from the HBO series “Treme” who accused staff of racially profiling him at the flagship store last year. -
MAN ARRESTED FOR ANTI-SIKH HATE CRIME IN NEW YORK CITY
NEW YORK (TIP):
After nearly three weeks of sustained Sikh community activism, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested 55-year-old Joseph Caleca for hitting, dragging, and seriously injuring Sandeep Singh with a truck in Queens late last month. While Sandeep continues to recover at home from his injuries, Caleca faces attempted murder and hate crime charges.
The Sikh Coalition is grateful to the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force for its ongoing efforts to deliver justice to Sandeep Singh and his family. The Sikh Coalition also thanks the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service for their work to address community tensions related to the hate attack. Roosevelt Island Case Still Unsolved A few days after Sandeep Singh was attacked, another Sikh-Dr. Jaspreet Singh Batra-was assaulted on Roosevelt Island, New York City, in front of his mother.
The investigation is still ongoing. The Sikh Coalition has called on the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force to use its specialized expertise to capture his assailants. “I made the call to the Sikh Coalition around midnight while I was being treated in the ER. Not only did the team listen to me patiently, but also took action immediately and offered me all their support and available resources.
Words cannot express my gratitude for all the assistance I have received from this team. They are very proactive and engage various law enforcement agencies to pursue these cases with due diligence.” – Dr. Jaspreet Singh Batra. -
Bank of America to pay record $16.65 billion to settle mortgage claims
NEW YORK (TIP):
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay $16.65 billion to end federal and state investigations into the sale of toxic mortgage securities during the subprime housing boom, the largest settlement by a single company in U.S. history, the Justice Department said Thursday, August 21.
The settlement includes $9.65 billion in fines and $7 billion in aid to communities and homeowners hit hard by the housing market crash that triggered the Great Recession. “This historic resolution — the largest such settlement on record — goes far beyond ‘the cost of doing business,’” Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said in describing what he called “pervasive schemes to defraud financial institutions and other investors.”
“Under the terms of this settlement, the bank has agreed to pay $7 billion in relief to struggling homeowners, borrowers and communities affected by the bank’s conduct,” he said. “This is appropriate given the size and scope of the wrongdoing at issue.” Most of the toxic loans that backed the securities came from firms BofA acquired in 2008, including Countrywide Financial Corp. of Calabasas and Wall Street investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. BofA already had incurred about $60 billion in losses and legal settlements from the purchase of Countrywide, which was one of the nation’s biggest subprime mortgage lenders during the housing boom of the mid 2000s. Associate Atty. Gen. Tony West said employees of BofA or the firms it acquired misled investors about the quality of the mortgages in the securities.
“It’s kind of like going to your neighborhood grocery store to buy milk advertised as fresh, only to discover that store employees knew the milk you were buying had been left out on the loading dock, unrefrigerated, the entire day before, yet they never told you,” West said. The deal settles claims from the Justice Department, the Securities Exchange Commission and other federal agencies, as well as California, New York and four other states. -
Manmohan Singh Immune as PM, not as Finance Minister, from claims of Sikh killings: US Court
NEW YORK (TIP):
US District Judge Honorable James Boasberg in the District of Columbia, August 19 ruled that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is immune from claims that he supported the genocide of Sikhs during his tenure as head of the country but does not have “head of state immunity” for claims arising from his tenure as Finance Minister of India (1991- 1996).
August 19 ruling of Judge Boseberge states that “Defendant Manmohan Singh was, until very recently, the Prime Minister of India. Plaintiffs Sikhs for Justice, a nonprofit organization, and Inderjit Singh have brought this suit alleging that the former Prime Minister tortured and killed Indian Sikhs during his time at the helm of that country’s government and, before then, as Finance Minister.
The United States, a nonparty in this litigation, has filed a Suggestion of Immunity claiming that Singh, as the sitting Prime Minister, is entitled to head-of-state immunity. Although at the time of that filing, Singh was indeed Prime Minister, he left office three weeks later. Plaintiffs, consequently, counter that Singh is no longer entitled to such immunity. They are only partly correct.
Although he is no longer a head of state, Singh is entitled to residual immunity for acts taken in his official capacity as Prime Minister. Because such residual immunity does not cover actions Singh pursued before taking office, however, the allegations stemming from his time as Finance Minister survive.” US based rights group, “Sikhs for Justice” (SFJ) and Inderjit Singh, claimed in the 2013 suit that as finance minister Manmohan Singh “funded several counter insurgency operations in state of Punjab during the 1990s resulting in more than hundred thousand Sikhs being killed extra- judicially by the security forces”.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh was accused of being complicit in the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of members of Sikhs and for shielding the perpetrators of Sikhs Genocide. Judge Boasberg ruled that that U.S. law bars former heads of state from being sued for actions they took while in office, but not for private acts or those taken in prior government posts. However, “while Singh’s alleged acts as Finance Minister are not ‘private’ per se, they did not occur in the course of his official duties as head of state,” Boasberg wrote.
Terming the sustaining of charges against Manmohan Singh in US Court as a ray of hope for the plaintiffs Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to SFJ stated that this is a start of long and uphill battle of making former prime minister accountable for funding “counterinsurgency operations” across India in which hundreds of thousands of Sikhs were kidnapped, murdered and buried in mass graves during 1990s.
Citing the case of Jiang Zemin, the former president of China, in May, the U.S. Department of Justice urged Boasberg to dismiss the entire suit because it was filed when Singh was still a sitting head of state. However, the Judge Boasberg ruled that the cases were distinct because all of the claims against Zemin stemmed from his time as a head of state while the case against Manmohan Singh also includes claims from the time when he was not head of the state (1991-96). The case against Manmohan Singh was filed by the victims during September 2013 Obama-Singh Summit visit under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). -
Singham Returns
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Amol Gupte,
Anupam Kher
Direction: Rohit Shetty
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 22 minutes
Story: Singham is on the prowl again. To rip the guts of untamed beasts in the civilized jungle of Mumbai
Review: Shiver me timbers. The Singham is back. This time louder, wilder and more a man-eater. With his lioness in tow. For a roar in stereo. Yes, the ‘hard-hitting’ combo of Devgn-Shetty is back with more purr for the puss. With sculpted muscles and sinews that scream ‘studly’.
And the man with ultimate dum, fakth Bajirao Singham. The plot rumbles with action of seismic proportions, shot grandly in signature Shetty style – high-voltage stunts, death-defying combats, men and machines bursting into flames – served bloody, gritty and unadulterated. Guruji (Kher) is a righteous political leader who wants to bring about social change with youth development, women’s safety, et al.
Opposing his noble intentions are corrupt politicians and a sleazy, malicious godman, Swamiji (Gupte), who hypnotizes and loots the aam aadmi with blind faith. Enter DCP Bajirao Singham (Devgn), with a satka dimaag and a solid mission. His dutiful police officer gets killed and falsely accused of corruption. Singham returns with more garam khoon than before. With all his claw-power to pound the baddies, even as his dynamite dialogues (Sajid-Farhad) dare them to resurrect their evil (aai shapath!). Shetty’s cracked the pulse of the masses as he brazenly plays to the galleries.
While the story itself plays it safe (too basic and predictable), the action is risky and rousing (Rohit Shetty, Jai Singh Nijjar and Suniel Rodrigues). Also packing a social message and feeding action lovers with raw ‘meat and bones’. It’s riddled with cliches and the length needs a good edit. But overall, it provides entertainment for enthusiasts of ‘Singham’ brand of cinema. Amol Gupte is perfectly cast, leaving an impact with a superb, killer performance. Kareena Kapoor (as Avni) playfully romances her sher, slipping in some laughs and clicking ‘selfies’ as Lady Singham.
Kher is good even in a brief role. Devgn digs his claws into this part with more vengeance and power, delivering a knockout act. The jungle can be tamed. If we all become ringmasters of the circus of civilization – and lions of what is right. Then the unlawful will get – well, fakth. -
CROWLEY CALLS ON MAYOR, NYPD TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST NYC’S SIKH COMMUNITY
New York Sikhs feel “under siege” in wake of multiple brutal attacks
NEW YORK (TIP): Rep. Joe Crowley (DQueens, the Bronx), a leader on Sikh- American issues that spearheaded the effort to encourage the Department of Justice and FBI to begin tracking and quantifying hate crimes against Sikhs, called on Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner William J. Bratton to develop a comprehensive action plan to address the recent surge of attacks on members of the New York Sikh community.
“The disturbing pattern of escalating violence and hate against New York’s Sikh community is unacceptable and immediate steps are needed to both protect the community and prevent such attacks from happening in the first place,” said Crowley. “New York City should send a strong message that this kind of bigotry and violence will not be tolerated.”
As part of an action plan, Crowley suggests the City consider expanding security presence at Sikh places of worship, designating a liaison to the Sikh community, and expanding the service of observant Sikhs beyond the Metropolitan Transit Authority to include service in the NYPD, as a way of demonstrating support for the Sikh community. Crowley’s call comes in the wake of two separate attacks on Sikhs in New York City over the last two weeks alone.
Dr. Jaspreet Singh Batra – a Sikh physician – was assaulted and injured in front of his elderly mother on Roosevelt Island, and Mr. Sandeep Singh-a Sikh business owner and father-was run over and seriously wounded by a driver in a pick-up truck in Queens. In both cases, the targets were subjected to bigoted slurs. These attacks sadly coincided with the second anniversary of the attack on the Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, which killed six worshippers and seriously injured several others, and come on the heels of last year’s brutal attack on Columbia University professor Dr. Prabhjot Singh that resulted in his hospitalization. Further, members of the Sikh community have shared with officials news of other instances of hate employed against them, which all too often were not reported to the authorities.
“…[T]hese attacks have created a situation in which the families that comprise New York’s Sikh community feel under siege – concerned even to carry out everyday activities like patronizing a restaurant, walking home from work or going shopping. Our city now faces a unique situation, in which a key community reports that they are living as targets for violent bigotry,” said Crowley in the letter.
Sikh-Americans are often targeted for hate crimes because of their distinct identity and common misperceptions with respect to their attire and appearance. Attackers sometimes appear to erroneously believe that Sikh-Americans are affiliated with extremists and were somehow responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States.
In other circumstances they are attacked because of their Sikh identity. A recognized leader in Congress on issues related to the Sikh-American community, Crowley has led a major effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to convince the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin collecting data on hate crimes committed against Sikh-Americans and Hindu- Americans – introducinglegislation and sending multiple letters to the DOJ and FBI.
Last year, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller announced the agency would begin this program. Crowley’s efforts have been supported by the Sikh Coalition, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Hindu American Foundation, Indian American Forum for Political Education, SALDEF, and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) among other leading national organizations. -
KANGANA RANAUT’S NEW STYLE STATEMENT
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is known to be a daring fashionista. In keeping with her image, the actress was chosen by online portal Myntra to echo the ‘fun, flirty and feminine’ image of its women’s Western wear brand, DressBerry. This works perfectly for Kangana, who usually doesn’t have the luxury of time to shop at stores, and prefers shopping at online portals.
About her association with the brand, Kangana says, “Besides the apparels, it is the attitude of ‘fun, flirty and feminine’ reflected by the brand that resonates with me.” The actress will showcase the brand’s AW’ 14 collection in an upcoming multimedia campaign. About roping in Kangana, Abhishek Verma, SVP, Fashion Brands, at the portal, says, “We are excited to have Kangana mirror a persona just like hers — young, confident and fashionable — in the brand.
This initiative will further strengthen our position as one of India’s most loved and preferred online fashion portals and will mark a new step in the brand’s evolution.” Launched in 2013, the brand has gained commendable popularity, making it one of the largest selling women’s Western wear brands on the portal. The collection spreads across tops, dresses, jackets, bottoms, jumpsuits, nightwear and accessories. To view the entire range, log on towww.myntra.com/dressberry
