Please disseminate this Important Message to whoever may benefit from the information in your inner and outer circles.
“Really glad you’re doing something like this. Clearly it’s happening all over the country, but it takes guts to bring about the discussion because so many times we think a) that’ll never happen to me or b) have a fear of bringing up such heavy topics out loud. The best part is you have Government officials there supporting you and hearing your voices, so it’s going to the next level. And I saw what happened to Neil Makhija in a Facebook video, it’s alarmingly frightening. Thanks for doing what you do!” – Anonymous
IAALV Seeks to Become an Effective Voice For the Community in these Trying Times Drawing Strength from our Unity!
Dear Esteemed Members of our Community:
On May 17, 2017, IAALV organized a groundbreaking event for the good of the community where immigrants in general and Indian-Americans in particular discussed bias-motivated attacks and verbal affronts on the members of the community, and particularly the safety of our streets and our schools.
Our featured speakers talked about the current state of affairs and gave us assurance about ensuring the safety and security of the members of the community. The Hon. Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, who headlined thee meeting, mentioned that he is overwhelmed by the substantial increase in the number of hate crime cases in Pa since he was sworn Jan. 17, 2017. Hate crimes are defined in Pa. as ethnic intimidation.
He said he is bent on reversing the trend by encouraging immigrant communities to work with judiciary, law enforcement and government bodies.
The contact number for people having ethnic intimidation issues is
(Please let IAALV know if you want help with expediting your complaint redressal process.)
To deal with this situation effectively and collectively, the attorney general is forming a coalition of partnership with the immigrant communities. He congratulated IAALV on its mission and continued efforts towards that end and invited us to be part of this initiative to help alleviate the situation.
The presentations by the attorney general and other officials struck a chord with the audience. Most importantly, more than 10 organizations serving Lehigh Valley Indian-Americans came together and participated in the event and they all agreed to work together for our common good and shared interests.
Moving forward, we need to do the following:
- Form Coalition: To become a part of the soon-to-be-formed coalition, IAALV organizes itself as an umbrella body for all organizations serving over 7000 Lehigh Valley Indian-Americans irrespective of their affiliations and faith. IAALV through its’ activities since the early nineties has been adding value to the entire community irrespective of their affiliations or faith thus making each one of 7000 of us a beneficiary of our efforts.
- Develop Political Power: We must seize the moment to develop political power and all organizations present were supportive of the idea. We need to re-establish the Indo-American Political Action Committee along the lines of what we established in 1994.
Friends, we must seize the moment as Indian–Americans are at a crossroads where we must choose between more talk or wasteful politicking and plain old hard work to bring the community together. Our actions and involvement will determine and secure our future and the second generation and the generations that will follow.
I urge all concerned people to come forward to become part of these initiatives and encourage them to join us to take these steps forward prudently.
God bless us all as we forge ahead!
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Arum Kumar IAALV President 2017 484-358-2335 (Mobile) |
Deepak Sharma, Esq IAALV Board Member 2017-18 610-730-6409 (Mobile) |
Ashim Bhowmick IAALV Board Chair 2017-18 610-457-4205 (Mobile) |
Brochure of this Event : View
Organizations Invited (present and could not be present) : View
Photographs Courtesy of Rajib Baruah
TV and Press coverage – Links
WFMZ:
Here’s the link to the story that aired May 17 at 6:00PM: http://www.wfmz.com/514651286
INDIA ABROAD:
www.indiaabroad-digital.com/indiaabroad/20170602?pg=10