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Obama administration upsets Indian-American community

Texy

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Texy

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There is deep concern among Indian-American community leaders and activists that the Obama administration is discontinuing the exclusive traditional Diwali celebration hosted by the White House for the past six years, and have instead diluted the event to a 'Diwali observance' by President Obama that will be accompanied by his signing of an executive order on Wednesday, restoring the White House Commission and Interagency Working Group to address issues concerning the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. One senior community activist, who had been involved with organising the past six annual Diwali events hosted by the White House during the Bush administration who did not wish to be identified -- told rediff.com, "Nobody seems to know what's happening." "I did write at least two letters to President Obama, and I also wrote to Valerie Jarrett (Obama's influential friend, who is designated Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement), and then I followed it up with six or seven communications with Kal Penn [ Images ] (the actor, who is Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement at the White House) and I made several phone calls also to him, but he never responded," the activist said. "Only one time, he (Kal Penn) sent me a brief e-mail that said, 'Diwali will happen,' but when I asked, what is the date, are community leaders invited, do you need any help, etc. I got absolutely no response," he added. The activist said that in his letters to the White House he had said that 'I wrote that we appreciate the White House's inclusiveness and praised the President and said that as much as the White House will be celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, etc, we hope that the Diwali celebration will also continue, and that this was the plea we made to the then President that led to the White House deciding to host Diwali.' "I gave all the dates for Diwali, and all of the information and background about Diwali and what it is all about and requested that the tradition be continued and it be institutionalised and wrote this all in a very nice, polite fashion, but received no response at all." This activist, several other community leaders and even some Indian-American White House officials in the Obama administration said they became aware that there will be some kind of Diwali acknowledgment only when they saw a White House media advisory which said that President Obama would sign an executive order restoring the White House Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders and that 'at the East Room ceremony, the President will also observe Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, a holiday celebrated across faiths.' Several community leaders bitterly complained that not only had they been snubbed, but that the celebration of Diwali had been diluted as it was being "tacked as a secondary function to the Asian American and Pacific Islander executive order signing and then an observance of Diwali would occur." They also said that unlike in past years, when Diwali was an exclusive function where several hundred Indian Americans would be invited, this time "there will be a wholesale invitation to a group of Asian Americans and we have no idea how many Indian Americans are being invited or have been invited to what was essentially in the past six years a desi event." "This is all very hurtful to all of us because this is diluting Diwali since these are two separate events," another community activist said, "and somebody in the White House did not realise the significance of Diwali to have simply tagged it on to this other event." But while all of these community leaders and activists belong to the older first generation, Toby Chaudhuri, a second generation Indian-American activist and Democratic Party strategist, told rediff.com that "this ceremony will mark the first time Diwali will be observed in the White House itself." Chaudhuri, director of communications for Campaign For America's Future, a progressive think-tank in Washington,DC, pointed out that "the Bush administration traditionally celebrated Diwali in the Indian Treaty Room in the Old Executive Building, next to the White House, but this is the first time, a sitting president is actually going to be there at the Diwali observance." He said "(President George W) Bush did (host) the (Diwali) celebrations, but he wasn't actually present," and reiterated, "it's the first time it's moving into the White House building itself from the Old Executive Office Building." Chaudhuri also took strong issue with the arguments that the Diwali observance was being diluted by riding piggy-back to the executive order signing by President Obama, contending that "this is a historic occasion for our community because this is a Commission that will help to solve problems facing our community." He said the Obama administration, by restoring this Commission was meeting the concerns and issues faced by the community "with deeds -- it's not just a ceremony and not just a one-time a year celebration." "The restoration of this White House Commission is going to be there to serve the community," Chaudhuri said. "It's going to be a Commission that will offer solutions to the concerns and issues of the community." Several sources told rediff.com that this event was "essentially Kal Penn's event. He is the coordinator and he is in charge of this. So all the invite list, everything is going through Kal's desk." But the sources acknowledged that no one seemed to know about the event till the media advisory went out first on October 9,and after that everybody, including Indian Americans working in the administration, including in the White House were scrambling to be invited and "we got in touch with the Office of Public Liaison and communicating with them asking them what's going on and all that, and sending in our names and other information to be on the invite list." source: rediff

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yoda Newbie

yoda

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Don't think it is whining at all. Hinduism as a religion gets shelved to the back burner cause we don't make too much noise. I am not saying we need to bomb the cr@p out of people to be heard, but trying to raise the awareness of our religion doesn't hurt.

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yoda Newbie

yoda

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Thats the US. Hinduism does not mean much to them. They don't have to celebrate our festivals. As long as they are not disrespecting us' date=' it's alright.[/quote'] Not really. US is a secular country. No one is asking the Christians on the street to celebrate Diwali. The White house has traditionally embraced all religions (like Islam, Judaism, ...) and do celebrate them all. All the Hindus are asking is add our religion to the list of religions the White House traditionally celebrates. The president/white house represent all Americans be it Christains, Muslims, Jews or Hindus. Only argument I can see is that the Hindu population in the US is possibly very small when compared to other religions which they more openly celebrate.
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varun Newbie

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-seeks-light-and-knowledge-from-Diwali/articleshow/5125834.cms
WASHINGTON: In an expansive gesture to Indians worldwide as much as to showcase his – and America’s -- multi-cultural affections, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lit a ceremonial Diwali lamp at the White House to ''symbolize victory of light over darkness.'' ( Watch Video ) Although it was the Bush White House that began celebrating Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, in 2003, Obama became the first President to personally grace the ceremony -- a brief affair that began with a rather incongruous performance by the well-regarded Hindi a-capella group Penn Masala, and ended with a Sanskrit invocation by a priest from the local Siva-Vishnu temple. ''This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting Diyas, or lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance,'' Obama said on the occasion, adding, ''And while this is a time of rejoicing, it's also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need.'' The Diwali ceremony shared the platform with another event where Obama signed an executive order re-establishing the President’s advisory committee and White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. By hosting both events together, the U.S President, who is clearly comfortable being a composite of American, Asia-Pacific, and African cultures, brought together an unusual coalition in the White House East Room of Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders. All three groups have much in common as successful minorities but seldom work together. The half-hour East Room celebration was attended by a mixed crowd of hyphenated Asians, Americans, and Indians. India’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Ambassador Meera Shankar dropped by, and several Indian-Americans in administrative positions in Washington attended. The White House kept it light and simple. A box of Indian mithai (sweets) was placed on some 150 chairs that filled the East Room but there was no food fest or song and dance. After his remarks, much of which was devoted to the Asian-American initiative, there was a single lamp that Obama lit from a candle. The Siva-Vishnu temple priest, dressed in ceremonial togs with an enormous three-forked tilak on his forehead, kept his invocation short -- chanting ''Asatoma Sadgamaya'' (Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to liberation) from the Upanishads. Obama, having lit the White House diya (a word he handled with aplomb) and wished everyone a ''Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak,'' listened intently as the priest ended with ''Om Shanti Shanti.'' He returned the priest’s Namaste and then shook his hands before striding out to attend to the business of war. ''Thank you Mr President for being the first president to come to the Diwali ceremony,'' a gadabout journalist called out to Obama. ''Yes, how about that,’’ the President shot back. The President spent much of the morning with his ''war council'' (formally, the national security team) in the White House Situation room assessing US strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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