IMC-USA Convention
A Huge Success
Press Release
07 October, 2005
imc-usa.org
The
third annual convention of the Indian Muslim Council - USA, an advocacy
group dedicated to protecting the rights of minorities and promoting
pluralism, was a huge success.
The theme of the
event was Indian Americans: Activism for Better India and it was held
in Detroit on 1st October, 2005. It was attended by hundreds of members
of the Indian Diaspora as well as the representatives from the broad-based
Coalition to Build a Better India (CBBI). The speakers included representatives
of major world religions as well as experts on International Human Rights
Law and leaders of Human Rights organizations.
Congressman John
Conyers gave the keynote address and thanked IMC-USA for the Malik Al-Shabazz
Award handed to him for his leadership in the field of human rights.
He equated the struggle of Indian Muslims and other persecuted minorities
in India to that of the Civil Rights movement led by Martin Luther King
Jr. He highlighted the difficulties faced by a struggling rights movement
by reminding that many segments of the African-American community were
initially afraid of standing up for their rights and had requested Dr.
King not to launch his movement. He congratulated IMC-USA for showing
courage and taking the leadership role in fighting religious persecution
and for adopting non-violence as the way to do so just as Gandhi and
King had done. The Michigan congressman, in his wide-ranging speech,
also stressed the need to bridge the growing gap between the affluent
and the poor in India.
Hindutva groups
who subscribe to a violent ultra-nationalistic and supremacist ideology
had unsuccessfully launched a campaign to dissuade the Congressman from
speaking at the IMC-USA convention.
The banquet session
was also addressed by Fr. Cedric Prakash and Dr. Shaik Ubaid. Fr. Prakash,
who has been referred to as Desmond Tutu of India for his work to obtain
justice for the victims of the state-sponsored pogrom in Gujarat, declared
that his quest for justice is not for revenge, but as the beginning
of reconciliation and forgiveness. He pointed out that persecution of
Christians, Muslims and Dalits is still rampant in Gujarat and increasing
with alarming regularity in adjacent Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. Ubaid, the national
President of IMC-USA, thanked Congressman Conyers for his inspirational
leadership in the area of human rights and civil rights and promised
that IMC-USA will continue to work towards increasing awareness about
the fascist roots of Hindutva ideology. He also stressed that the involvement
of different segments of Indian and US societies and support from leaders
such as Congresman Conyers will be essential in foiling the plans of
Hindutva groups to repeat Gujarat like pogroms in the neighboring Indian
states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He declared that IMC-USA will
work towards expanding the alliance of like-minded groups to other countries
where Hindutva-fascism is active.
Dr. Ubaid called
the work against religious extremism as the highest form of patriotism
and vowed that IMC-USA will work tirelessly to expose the infiltration
of Hindutva-fascist groups in the power centers of the US. He added
that IMC-USA will continue to work to bring the Indian Muslim groups
together and to educate the Indian Muslims about their legal and civil
rights and on ways to obtain their share of the grants and financial
aid from the Indian government ministries.
The convention audience
was also addressed by two lawyers who specialize in International Human
Rights Law. Barrister Jaswant Kaur of the Sikh Human Rights Group, UK
and James Dorsey of the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, spoke
about their experiences in documenting and pursuing cases of human rights
violations. They advised the delegates and coalition leaders on ways
of pursuing justice for the victims of pogroms in the UN and other international
institutions.
The session on Human
Rights was addressed by Prof. Jawahar Nesan, who had founded a fast
growing Dalit movement; T. Kumar, Advocacy Director, Amnesty International,
USA; and Pushpa Iyer, a Gujarati activist who had worked extensively
with the victims of the 2002 Gujarat carnage. The session was also addressed
by Swami Agnivesh who has worked courageously against the Hindu extremists.
Acharya Shrikumar Poddar, a Hindu spiritual leader based in Michigan,
pointed out that the Hindutva groups have engaged in mass violence against
religious minorities and Hindutva has nothing to do with Hinduism.
The session on activism
featured talks from Professor Omar Khalidi and Professor Biju Mathew.
Khalidi declared, "What is good for India is good for Indian Muslims
and What is good for Indian Muslims is good for India," and went
on to prove this declaration.
The award winners
of this year's IMC Awards included Ruth Morris in Journalism for her
coverage of the Indian Diaspora and Dr. Biju Mathew of the Campaign
to Stop Funding Hate for his work in exposing the flow of funds to Hindutva
extremists from the Hindutva groups in the US.
The focused networking
sessions on Indian Muslim NGOs, Muslim business networking and women
activist networking generated a lot of interest. Munaf Zeena of the
Council of Indian Muslims, UK, brought forth the experiences of the
Indian-Muslim Diaspora in Britain in their struggle for political and
economic empowerment in UK as well as their strategy in the struggle
for Justice for the victims of the Gujarat pogrom. Dr. Lise McKean and
Dr. Sania Zainuddin, along with Zeeshan Farees, used the Women's networking
event to strategize about working against the violent targeting of minority
women by Hindutva groups.
Among the Michigan
Community leaders who spoke at the convention were Steve Spreitzer from
the Catholic community and Ghalib Begg. Ghalib Begg congratulated IMC-USA
for the lead taken in the Coalition Against Genocide's campaign in getting
the US visa denied to Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Begg called it the biggest political victory for the Indian American
Muslims.
The convention night
concluded with a cultural program of poetry, songs and comedy skits.
The speakers and
delegates were all praises for the professionalism shown by the dynamic
team of IMC-Michigan under the leadership of Asim Khan. The leaders
of various communities and groups also thanked IMC-USA for promoting
inter-community dialogue and taking the lead in building bridges between
the communities.
The Coalition to
Build a Better India held its first annual meeting the day after the
convention and its members discussed means of combating religious and
caste-based persecution, the growing economic gulf and political corruption.
CONTACT
Zeeshan Farees
800-839-7270 / 516-567-0783
IMC-USA
265 Sunrise Highway, Suite 1-355
Rockville Center, NY 11570
Tel: (516) 567-0783