| Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Gujarat Genocide |
WHAT: Candlelight Vigil WHEN: Saturday, March 3, 2012 (4.30 PM – 7 PM)
WHERE: Union Square (Gandhi Statue, Union Sq West & 14th
Street), New York, NY
3/1/2012
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Biju Mathew: 917- 232 8437; Dr. Shaik Ubaid: 516-567-0783; Misbah
Mirza: 201-334-2524; gujarat10anniv@gmail.com
NYC
area Indians and Human
Rights Activists Invoke Gandhi
to Mark 10th Anniversary of the
Gujarat Massacre of 2002
Demanding Justice
for the Victims and the Arrest of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi
Several
hundred Indian Americans will head to the Gandhi Statue at Union Square
on Saturday March 3 to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Gujarat
Massacre in which over 2000 Muslim men, women and children were killed
by organized mobs of the Hindu right wing under the protection of the
Chief Minister (CM) of the Indian State of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Over
100,000 Muslims were displaced from their homes as a result of this
pogrom. The attacks, massacres, rapes and displacement were extensively
covered in the international media. Scathing reports from Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty International as well as the Indian human rights
organizations pointed out that the massacres and gang-rapes were
coordinated, organized, and sanctioned.
"We are gathering at the
Gandhi statue because the Indian government and society needs to decide
whether it believes in Gandhi's worldview or Modi's," said Nazeer Syed,
a volunteer with the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) one of the
over 40 organizations behind the mobilization.
These organizations came
together in 2005 under the name Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) and
campaigned
successfully to get the US State Department to refuse
Narendra Modi a visitor’s visa, and to revoke his diplomatic visa. This
was unprecedented for a politician of Modi’s stature. "We did not back
down then, and we see no reason to now," said Dr. Svati Shah of the
South Asia Solidarity Initiative. "We are mobilizing to reiterate that
any nation that allows a mass murderer to remain in power has, at the
minimum, a deeply flawed democracy," she added.
The list of NYC area
luminaries who will attend the demonstration also points to the growing
sentiment both inside and outside the Indian American community that
all is certainly not well, despite India's 8% economic growth rates.
Amongst those who will speak at the demonstration include Bhairavi
Desai, Head of the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance, Imam Talib
Abdur-Rashid, President of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York,
Joe Lombardo, National Co-chair of United National AntiwCoalition, Rev.
Mark Lukens, the President of The Interfaith Alliance of Long Island,
and leaders of the Coalition Against Genocide.
"We will end the
demonstration with a silent vigil," says Habeeb Ahmad of the Muslim
Peace Coalition USA. "Each candle at the vigil will be memory of the
thousands who died... but it will also bear witness to our hope. We
have waited ten years. We certainly do not want to wait another
decade," Ahmed who is a human rights commissioner with Nassau County
added.
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