Prominent community leaders, members of diverse communities speak on the need to check the rise in hate related incidents
Our Bureau / New York
Hate has no part in a peaceful society, but in recent days several crimes stirred by this emotion were committed against Asian Americans in Atlanta, New York, Californiaand Texas.Indo American Community Voice Inc, a not-for-profit organization which stands for educating and bringing awareness regarding any community issues, supported by more than 35 other organizations from the Tri-State area, organized a candlelight vigil to show their solidarity against hate crimes and condolences to the families of the Hate Crime victims, led by President Bina Sabapathy and the IACV Board on April 11, 2021, at 4pm.
Bina Sabapathy, in her speech, stressed the need of the hour and said that hate is a word that creates fear in the heart and gives chill to the body. She also said that hate is a learned behavior, and it is instilled in the young mind by parents, Teachers, friends whom they are associated with and the society where they live in. The event started with American National anthem and the opening remarks by Nassau County Minority Affair Executive DirectorLionel Chitty.
Speakers representing international communities like, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, South Korea, and Taiwan were featured and voiced a palpable anxiety.
Prominent Community leaders from various organizations, Ms. Kim Kay, Dr. Jay Sarkar, Mr. Fred Fu, Mr. Gopi Dhungwana, Mr. Qamar Bhashir, Ms. Patsy Chen, Mr. Christopher Tung, Mr. Ajith Bhaskar, Mr. Koshy Thomas, Mrs. Indu Jaiswal, Dr. Anila MIdha, Mr. Govind Munjal, Mrs. Jyoti Gupta, Mrs. Suhag Mehta, Mrs. Beena Kothari and Mr. Andy Cheng along with the heads of the Temples located in Queens and in Long Island, Dr. Uma Mysorekar, Dr. Ravindra Goyal (also IACV,Board Member ), Mr. Sridhar Shanmugam (also IACV Board Member ), Pandith Hemanath and Maa, Chandra Bharathi spoke at length with concern, at the increasing number of hate crimes targeting Asians.
Distinguished members of the media newspapers, and TV from the Tri-State area Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Mr. Kamlesh Mehta, Mr. Sunil Hali and Mr. Jasbir Singh, noted the community outpouring and promised to create awareness in the public.
The event was emceed by Board Members Mr. Vimal Goyal, Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Mr. Pradeep Tandon and Mrs. Poojaa Makhijani. A very effective slide show of Love, Peace, Faith and Hope was presented by Board Member Mr. Balaji Nagaraj.
The event concluded with a peace prayer by Maa. Chandra Bharathi and vote of thanks by Mr. Balaji Nagaraj thanking all the speakers from diverged communities, participants, News and TV Media, and silent supporter Mrs. Shalini Bansal. A Bill is scheduled to pass by the Congress very soon, concerning and combining COVID and HATE CRIMES.
