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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-2 -Jan- Jan-15- 2016
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h e s o u t h a s i a n t i m e s . i n f o
All about FIA + Interview with President Ankur Vaidya: Pages 6-26 | 2015 Roundup: Pages 28-54
Vol. 8 | No. 35 | January 2-15, 2016 | 80 Cents
New Year Special
The Federation of Indian Associations of NY-NJ-CT, organizers of the largest India Day Parade for 35 years,have also played a leading role in safeguarding India’s interests in USA. Recently they partnered in improving consular services,
joined the Clean India-Darjeeling project, and attempted two new world records, putting the Indian American communitiesof New York metro area on top of the Indian diasporas worldwide.
The South Asian Times is proud to announce FIA as “The South Asian Times - Organization of the Year 2015”,honoring and recognizing their valuable diverse services and innovative leadership.
Leading the Community by Serving
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Owned & Operated by AW Mobile
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Islamabad New Delhi:
Condemning the Pathankot attackin one voice ‑ for the first time fol‑
lowing a terror strike in India ‑
Pakistan's civilian and military
leadership on Friday promised full
cooperation with New Delhi in
eradicating the menace of terror‑
ism from the region, a denuncia‑
tion that would be reassuring for
Indian government.
The decision was taken at a
meeting chaired by Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and attended by
Army chief, General Raheel Sharif,
ISI chief, Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, DG
Military Operations, National
Security Advisor, Minister for
Interior and Advisor to PM on
Foreign Affairs.
"The meeting discussed the
Pathankot attack, expressed con‑
demnation of this incident, and
reiterated the country's commit‑
ment to cooperate with India to
completely eradicate the menace
of terrorism afflicting our region,"read a statement issued by PM
Sharif's office.
The condemnation will be heart‑
ening for both national security
advisor Ajit Doval and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, who
scripted a stunning turnaround in
relations, after they received
assurance from the Sharif govern‑
ment that even the Pakistan army
was in favor of engagement with
India.
The Pakistan statement said the
meeting chaired by the PM
reviewed the progress made on the
information provided by India. "It
was decided to remain in touch
with the Government of India in
this regard," it said.
The meeting also expressed that
after the confidence built on the
goodwill generated by the recent
By Parveen Chopra
New York: It was Ankur Vaidyaʼs
vision and dedication for FIA and
the Indian community that won
him a second term as FIA
President. As he gets ready to pass
the baton to the incoming presi‑
dent, Anand Patel, Vaidya feels a
sense of accomplishment for hav‑
ing refocused FIA (Federation of
Indian Associations – NY‑NJ‑CT) oncommunity development, going
beyond the image that FIA just
organizes the annual India Day
Parade, which is no mean achieve‑
ment either.
With FIA being declared The
South Asian Times ‑ Organization
of the Year 2015, Vaidya gave an
exclusive interview to this paper.
He said his teamʼs zooming
methodically on community serv‑
ice yielded a win‑win for the com‑
munity as well as an enhancement
to FIA. Holding visa camps, part‑
nering with relief agencies during
Hurricane Sandy, representing the
Indian Americans at White Houseʼs
Asian American initiatives and on
Captiol Hill, participating in Clean‑
India Campaign ‑ Darjeeling
Sanitation Project, part icipating in
PBDs – the list is impressive that is
bound to leave a legacy for thefuture leaders of FIA.
Yet, a pragmatic Vaidya is not
the one to sacrifice the big event.
“The celebration like India Day
The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism TERRORISM 28 NEWSMAKERS 40
Vol.8 No. 35 January 2-15, 2016 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Pak PM, Army& ISI chiefsall condemn
Pathankot attack
The condemnation from Islamabad is sought to reassure India lest there‑engagement between the neighbors after high level contact
between PMs Modi and Sharif is derailed again.
CARTOONS 64
Hillary set toengage Asians,
Indian‑AmericansWashington:
Democratic presi‑
dential front‑runner Hillary
Clinton has launched an outreach
group to engage Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders, an increas‑
ingly potent voting bloc, as she
looks to broaden the appeal of her
campaign. The group 'AAPI (Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders)
for Hillary' was launched in
California in presence of a large
number of Asian American leaders,
including Indian‑Americans. At the
Continued on page 4
Nikki Haley to give GOPresponse to Obamaʼs
State of Union
Ankur Vaidya refocusedFIA on community service
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 68
Washington:
South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley, who is
occasionally mentioned as a VP
pick by her party, will deliver the
Republican response to
President Obama's final State of
the Union address.
She will address the nation on
the night of January 12 after
Obama's speech, congressional
leaders said on Tuesday.
"Nikki Haley has led an eco‑
nomic turnaround & set a bold
agenda for her state, getting
things done and becoming one of
the most popular governors in
America," House Speaker PaulRyan said in announcing her as
the person to deliver the
Republican address. "Governor
Haley knows the American
Dream and wants to see every
American share in it, and we're
pleased that she will be deliver‑
ing this year's Republican
Address," added Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnell .
Incidentally, Bobby Jindal, the
other Indian American to serve
as Governor, had delivered the
GOP response to Obamaʼs first
State of the Union address.Continued on page 4
Indian‑American Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley
FIA President Ankur Vaidya
Hillary Clinton has pledged toaddress immigration issues such
as family reunification visas.
For Vaidya interview and otherFIA stories >> pages 626.
Continued on page 4
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Los Angeles Bollywood star
Priyanka Chopra has become
the first South Asian actressto win a People's Choice
Award. She won the award for
"favorite actress in a new TV
series" for her role as an FBI
agent in the US thriller
Quantico.
The 33‑year‑old was com‑
peting against actresses like
Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee
Curtis, Lea Michele and
Marcia Gay Harden in the cat‑
egory. Tweeting an image of
herself with the award, she
thanked her fans for voting
for her.
Chairman and Co-FounderKamlesh C. Mehta
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
President: Arjit Mehta
Chief Operating Officer:
Ginsmon P. Zacharia
P: 516 776 7061
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra
P : 516.710.0508
Associate Editors:Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,
Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Jaipur (India) Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Contacts
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Times, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Copyright and all other rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The
views expressed on the opinion pages and in the letters to the editor pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The South Asian Times. The editor/publisher does not warrant accuracy
and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this
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4 January 2-15, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN P AGE
Printed Every Saturday by: Forsythe Media Group, LLC, ISSN 1941-9333, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847
Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily
Priyanka Chopra winsPeople's Choice TV award
for Quantico role
Letter from the PublisherDear Friends
Happy New Year, we wish you and your family a very joyous
2016. Hope, the New Year will bring more peace, prosperity and
wisdom to us all.
We are proud to present our annual New Year's Special
Edition, coinciding with featuring the "The South Asian Times ‑
Person of the Year."
There are numerous individuals who have scaled great heights
in serving the communities at large and deserved to be the
"Person of the Year." It was a tough task to narrow down the
ultimate nomination and selection. We congratulate and admire
all those who have contributed towards the uplift of humanity.
Since 2010 when we first presented Special Edition of The
South Asian Times celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the
Federation of Indian Associations̶NY‑NJ‑CT (FIA), we have been
closely watching the role of FIA towards betterment of Indian
diaspora in the United States. Over the years with the change in
FIA leadership and the organization paying heed to the commu‑
nityʼs feedback on its functioning, several significant changes
have come about in the structure of FIA, re‑establishing its reputation as the pre‑eminent community
organization – to which Indian Americans can turn to and have their concerns voiced through. Growing
from a non‑profit body organizing mega entertainment events to a community centered association, FIA
took a lead in helping us resolve our visa and passport issues through visa camps, raised voice againstwork discrimination faced by our community at appropriate forums, partnered with relief agencies to
reach out to our people affected during natural calamities such as Hurricane Sandy, represented Indian
Americans at White Houseʼs Asian American initiatives, took community voice to Capitol Hill, participated
in Clean‑India Campaign via Darjeeling Sanitation Project and many other initiatives.
The efforts to create two new world records through the annual India Day Parade‑2015 and all other ini‑
tiatives of FIA have conclusively put Indian communities of New York metro area on top of the world map
of Indian diasporas.
Despite some shortcomings and community concerns about the transparency in internal functioning of
FIA leadership, we appreciate and salute the hard work and dedication of the 45 years old organization
which has played a pivotal role in uniting Indian diaspora in our adopted land, America. It goes without
saying that innumerable selfless man‑hours have gone into achieving this and FIA deserves all the acco‑
lades. They have preserved and promoted the patriotic emotions in each Indian soul, thousands of miles
away from our home.
It is a matter of immense pride for us as a leader in Indian‑American media fraternity to announce FIA as
the Organization of the Year 2015 for the ef forts it has taken to be there for its community members in a ll
its capacity.
Since its inception, The South Asian Times has earned an immaculate reputation in its excellence in jour‑nalism: value based content, clean and crisp display and qualitative advertising. We, the team at The South
Asian Times, sincerely thank all our supporters who have been our partners in our gracious success. Our
family oriented, unique vision has set new trends in South Asian media industry of North America both in
print & online. We take great pride in being a leader in ethnic news print media – a most read and adored
newspaper in the tri‑state area.
For yet another year we present our New Year Special edition. Hope you enjoy the result of the efforts
put in by our editorial team.With warm greetings,
Kamlesh C. Mehta Chairman & Publisher
Pak PM, Army & ISI chiefs ...Continued from page 3
high level contacts, the two coun‑
tries would remain committed to a
sustained and comprehensive dia‑
logue process.
The people of Pakistan, the state‑
ment further said, have evolved a
political consensus for action
against all terrorists and terrorist
organizations without distinction.
Some quarters in Pakistan, how‑
ever, expressed fears that the for‑
eign secretary‑level talks slated for
mid‑January might be put off for a
few days or weeks by the Indian
side, if it was not satisfied with the
outcome of the investigation leads
provided to Islamabad through
diplomatic channels.
Sharif, in his recent telephonic
conversation with Modi immedi‑
ately after the Pathankot assault,
had promised full cooperation to
New Delhi over alleged linkages of
the terrorists with some elements
on this side of the border.
Ankur Vaidya refocused...Continued from page 3
Parade is a sign of the prosperity
of a community and the grandeur
it displays portrays our communi‑
ty. At 3.2 million strong, our com‑
munity needs to focus on how to
elevate the grandeur of our events
not shrink it,” he asserts.
Hillary set to engage...Continued from page 3
launch, Clinton pledged to address
the concerns of the community,
including those related to immi‑
gration and visa. In her speech, she
pledged to work to reduce the
backlog for family visa to reunite
immigrant families. "Applicants
from the Asia‑Pacific region make
up about 40 percent of the family
visa backlog. Some from the
Philippines have been waiting for
a visa for 23 years. If you're a US
citizen and your brother lives in
India, it will take at least 12 years
just to get him a visa," the former
Secretary of State said.
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info January 2-15, 2016NEW Y EAR S P EC I AL
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F I A P ROF I LE
By SATimes Team
First generation Indians in America
wil l remember that on Indiaʼs
Independence Day, August 15, the
main event is the countryʼs prime minis‑
ter hoisting the flag at Red Fort in Delhi
and giving a speech, akin to the State of
the Union given by US presidents fromthe White House. The grand parade with
floats and performing contingents and
showcasing Indiaʼs military might is held
along Rajpath in the capital on January
26, marking Republ ic Day. Here in
America, though, the tradition has taken
root of holding parades on a weekend
before or after August 15 to celebrate
what has come to be called India Day.
By now the world famous India Day
Parade is of course held annually right
here in New York. It takes place along a
13‑block stretch of Madison Avenue in
the heart of Manhattan. And the credit for
the parade goes to Federation of Indian
Associations‑NY‑NJ‑CT, which has grown
to be one of the largest and mostesteemed umbrella organizations of the
Indian community in America. FIA repre‑
sents over 500,000 vibrant Indians and
gets significant grass root support from
them. Having existed in some form since
the year 1970, the FIA has blossomed
into a commendable organization that has
become an effective mouthpiece and
mobilizer for the community. Speaking
precisely, FIA nomenclature was adopted
in March 1978. Earlier since 1970, it was
active as Joint Committee of Indian
Organizations.
FIA represents various issues that con‑
cern a growing Indian community at the
local, state, and national levels. Over the
years, it has also tried to project a truthful
and real image of India to the mainstream
community and also further the interests
of Indians residing in the US. Even the
India Day Parade introduces Indian cul‑ture and ethos to the mainstream commu‑
nity.
During Ankur Vaidyaʼs first term as
President in 2014, FIA hosted a number
of community events to embrace cultural
diversity, connecting with the new and
emerging communities and helping them.
Events held included the town hall meet‑
ing hosted to address the flaws in visa
processing, passport and customer serv‑
ice issues, meeting with members of the
Congress to discuss the Immigration Bill
S744, a job forum for the diaspora, and of
course Dance Pe Chance competition to
celebrate Indiaʼs Republic Day and the
34th annual India Day Parade, as well as a
multi‑state visit to India to promote andenhance the recognition of NYCʼs India
Day Parade. In the neighboring New
Jersey, Freedom Celebration Events were
held at the Garden Exhibit Center.
One of the largest umbrella Indian organizations in the US, FIA of the tristatearea has rendered unwavering and unbroken service to the Indian communityin the country for 45 years. Known for holding since 1981 the India Day Parade
in NYC, the largest celebration of Indiaʼs Independence Day outside India,FIA has been growing in proportion to the exponential growth of
numbers and clout of the community. Lately it has startedrefocusing on community service and development.
6
Bollywood star Parineeti Chopra flanked by Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay andHaryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar atop a float at India Day Parade 2015.
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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio graced the 2014 parade.
Besides undertaking various
initiatives, FIA was represented
at conferences and community
consultation forums, expanding
collaborative partnerships with
agencies and organizations in
the area with a focus on the bet‑
terment of the Indian diaspora.
In 2015, under Vaidyaʼs leader‑
ship, the visa camps FIA suggest‑
ed and helped organize in associ‑
ation with CKGS and the Indian
consulate was something the
entire community is grateful for.
With the earl ier service
provider/processing agency,
there were major backlogs and
poor service causing nightmares
to applicants. FIA
has associated with about eight
visa camps including one in
Raleigh, NC and Boston. CKGS
has been effic ient and has
brought multiple community
organizations together and
replicated the tested model
and have performed 30
visa camps and assisted
over 5,000 community
members all over the
country.
FIA is also sup‑
porting the
D a r j e e l i n g
Sanitation Project,
which is part of
Prime Minister
Narendra Modiʼs
“Clean India” initiative.
Talking about his two terms as
FIA president, Ankur Vaidya says
that if you are not a photo‑op fig‑
urehead, the hefty tasks the
position entails takes a lot out
of you. Stepping down, it is
not the end of the road of
community service for
him. He has come across
so many cases of dire
straits some Indians
here get into, and not
enough grassroots
organizations to
help out , he is
mulling starting a
nonprofit himself.
Vaidya and some
other FIA offi‑
cials also feel that the organiza‑
tion should open itself to become
more representative of all com‑
munit ies and age groups.
Already, non‑Guajrati names can
be read in the roster of executive
committees and other commit‑
tees. Young blood also needs to
be infused. When youths join,
they should be guided, mentored,
but also given freedom. The
attempt to make two Guinness
World Records at the 2015 India
Day Parade was also aimed at
enthusing the youth.
People familiar with the histo‑
ry and achievements of FIA give
full credit to Ramesh Patel, who
served two terms as its President
in 1988‑90 and has been
7
F I A P ROF I LE
Actors Sunny Deol and Raveena Tandon were the star attraction at the 2014parade.
IDP 2015 Grand Marshal Arjun Rampal, other dignitaries and FIA officials ringing the closing bell at Nasdaq.
FIA is the voice of the community as
well as India on
Capitol Hill.
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Chairman for many years now. Called
variously as Iron Man, Sardar Patel of
the Indian community and Bhisham
Pitamah of FIA, he was ready to lead
when the community was just finding
its feet. He was among the first to
realize the importance of uniting the
community to influence political,
diplomatic and legislative decisions.
Not only FIA, he played a pioneering
role in forming numerous organiza‑
tions to represent and fight for issuesof the Indian diaspora. He used his
oratory skills and team building abili‑
ties to represent the issues of the
community to lawmakers and other
decision makers in the country. Now
people may not remember, but he was
involved with the campaign to end the
Dotbusters menace in New Jersey in
the late1980s and to lobby ferocious‑
ly to get the historic Pressler
Amendment passed which stalled the
transfer of weapons and aircrafts to
Pakistan.
As President of the Indian‑American
Forum for Political Education (IAFPE),
the "Friends of India" Caucus was pro‑
posed by the IAFPE members. Using
his close relations with the lawmak‑
ers, Ramesh Patel worked on imple‑
menting this caucus to enhance their
understanding of India as a large
democracy and a natural strategic allyof America. He also played a key role
in furthering U.S. ‑India Civil ian
Nuclear Agreement by meeting lead‑
ers in the Congress and the Bush
Administration to turn the tide in
India's favor.
Ramesh Patel also ensured FIA
became a great platform when Indian
Prime Ministers visited America, from
Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Rajiv
Gandhi to Chandra Shekhar, P.V.
Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
IK Gujral and Dr. Manmohan Singh.
In the 1980s, FIA came up with the
idea of inviting Bollywood stars to its
parades to attract crowds. And it
worked beautifully. Since 1983, some
of the biggest names from Bollywood,
music as well as politics have served
as Grand Marshals of the grander
parade.
The 34th India Day Parade in 2014,for example, was marked by the pres‑
ence of Bollywood celebrities Sunny
Deol, Raveena Tandon, Kailash Kher
and Daler Mehndi, as well as Vivek
Ranadive, who owns an NBA team.
Key civic and community leaders,
marching bands and other social
groups join the parade to show their
support. A massive wave of patriot‑
ism descends on the streets of New
York
with tricolors seen everywhere to
ʻSalute Indiaʼ. For many years now the
highlights of IDPs is the floats depict‑
ing Indian culture and traditions. The
hundreds of thousands who throng
the parade enjoy the great pageantryof Indian arts, crafts, music and cui‑
sine.
Amidst the old and loud desh‑bhakti
songs blaring from trucks come bands
of live music. The Jallosh Dhol Tasha
band stand out with their lezhim and
drums in a burst of saffron. The
parade ends in a colorful Indian fair
which features cuisine from India, and
stalls showcasing Indian handicrafts
and textiles.
Even the Empire State Building is lit
up in Indian tricolors around August
15 in a salute to India.
A day or so before the parade, the
Grand Marshal and other dignitaries
as well as FIA officials are invited toNasdaq to ring the closing bill to mark
Indiaʼs independence day. And a day
after the parade, FIA also now holds a
gala reception usually in New Jersey
where people can mingle with the
celebs.
8
F I A P ROF I LE
Shashi Tharoor came down from India to participate in the IndiaDay Parade last year.
Vivek Ranadive, businessman and owner of NBA teamSacramento Kings, at the 2014 parade.
Three media moguls Sudhir Parikh, Kamlesh Mehta and HR Shah posing withstar cricketer Virendra Sehwag at the 2015 parade.
Actor Arjun Rampal was the Grand Marshal at the
35th India Day Parade in 2015. Upcoming star
Parineeti Chopra was the guest of honor at the event
attended by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar, India's Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay
and former union minister Shashi Tharoor, among
others. Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was the
guest star cricketer in the parade. Khattar congratu‑
lated the huge gathering of Indians and lauded theachievements of the diaspora Many prominent peo‑
ple and community leaders were happy to give gush‑
ing sound bytes to the media.
Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP and celebrated
author known to New Yorkers as former Under
Secretary General of the UN, had come down from
India to join the Indian National Overseas Congressʼ
float at the parade. He told a news agency that the
event has been growing in importance and visibility
over the years. "This shows Indians have really
arrived and made a mark in this society. It is a great
celebration of the motherland in the new country,"
he said.
He cited the dismal growth and literacy rates, life
expectancy and maternal and child mortality figures
when India got its independence and said that India
has made tremendous improvements in the past 68 years "but we can't afford to be complacent".
Calling the parade a 35‑year‑old institution, Dr.
Sudhir Parikh of Parikh Media Worldwide, said the
annual event not only showcases Indiaʼs culture and
heritage, but it also brings the second generation of
Indian‑Americans closer to India, and connects the
mainstream American society to it as well. “This way
the parade serves a much bigger purpose than just
celebrating Indiaʼs Independence Day,” he added.
"Indians have the perfect balance between modern
and traditional and have great cultural values," said
Parineeti, who wore a blue Manish Malhotra gown.
“Celebrating Indiaʼs 69th Anniversary of
Independence at the India Day Parade in New York
tops the world in its size and enthusiasm when it
comes to spontaneous exuberance of grandeur and
pageantry of India in all its colors, cultures, cos‑tumes, dances and music”, said Harbachan Singh, a
top official of INOC USA. “It has always been an
exhilarating experience to be part of the India Day
Parade,” said George Abraham. “It is indeed a time to
celebrate freedom, liberty and justice, a Nehruvian
legacy for India.”
Praise for the Parade
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Ankur Vaidya has served two terms as
President of FIA. Perhaps it is rst time since
the Bhisham Pitamah of FIA, Ramesh Patel
served two terms in 1988-90. Vaidya was
also the youngest ever FIA President when
he was elected President in 2014 at age 34.
No matter what some people would say,
helming a non-prot community organiza-
tion may bring some momentary name and
fame, but it ultimately demands a lot of sac-
rice, claiming chunks from your time you
could have spent on building your business
or furthering your career. Vaidya agrees.
Interviewing Ankur Vaidya is a journal-
ist’s delight. He is forthright and candid in
his views, yet pragmatic and focused on the
daunting job he has voluntarily taken. The
most daunting part of FIA President’s task
is to lead the team to organize the mam-
moth NYC calendar event, India Day Parade,
that attracts over 200,000 people. He calls
inviting Bollywood stars at the parade as
Grand Marshals a necessary evil - because
without them you’d lose the crowds. Hold-
ing the parade entails huge expenditure but
he nds it critical in showcasing the Indiancommunity’s grandeur.
Yet, Vaidya sees FIA’s main role as ad-
dressing the issues of the community, aid-
ing in its growth and clout. He has tried to
refocus FIA to the extent he c ould.
He also agrees that FIA should nd
ways to attract the youths, who should be
brought in, guided and supported. FIA at-
tempting two Guinness Book records at the
2015 parade was a step in that direction
(the attempt did not succeed). Not project-
ing his own persona or professional life,
Vaidya says “suffice it to say that I am a
civil engineer with interest in real estate”.
In the exclusive interview Vaidya gave
to The South Asian Times, he discussed
FIA’s achievements during his two-yearterm, the visa camps last year that he had
first proposed, even the ticklish issue of
FIA executive committees dominated by
one community - Gujaratis.
The South Asian Times:What were the major achievements of FIA in 2015?
FIA President Ankur Vaidya: The highlights are in contrast to
what traditionally FIA has associated with, that is, community
entertainment. We, as a team for the past three years from the
time we took responsibility to this year (2015), zoomed me-
thodically on community service, which has yielded a win-win
for the community as well as an enhancement to our non-prot
community organization. Be it supporting community youth is-
sues, issues with the travel documentation for our community
members, back in the time with the visas and the passports
and now to some degree with only the passports, be it undocu-
mented community members needing religion based last rites
/ funeral rituals, supporting our up and coming youth who
need that additional push from a united community voice for
the mainstream community to know that our community stands
behind both our youth in fortunate as well as unfortunate cases.
In the past three years we have also partnered with Red Cross
during Hurricane Sandy to provide language interpretat ion as in
remote counties where communicating with Indian and Bangla-
deshi origin migrants was becoming a task for the hurricane re-
lief workers as well as FEMA personnel. FIA has represented our
community and actively participated in the Asian Heritage cel-
ebrations in multiple NYC, NJ & DC events including the events
held by Hon. Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Chris Christie and
the White House Asian American Pacic Islander conferences.
On our motherland front, FIA has actively participated in
the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas for the past three years includ-
ing the participation in the Regional PBD that was held in
Los Angeles. In 2015 FIA took a 34-strong delegation to the
PBD in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to show our commitment to our
motherland. FIA has actively associated with the White House
Asian American Pacic Islanders (WHAAPI) initiatives includ-ing attending multiple conferences and break-out sessions on
issues faced by the Asian Americans in the USA and has had
an instrumental role in bringing focus to
work discrimination and underpaid em-
ployment cases that are rampant with the
community’s newly migrated immigrants.
FIA has also participated in raising
awareness to make our vote count by edu-
cating voters of their rights and options and
exercising them to make our voices heard
and thus making our communities better
for our future generations. We have asso-
ciated with Robertwood Johnson Hospital
(RWJ) in 2014 to promote RWJ initiatives
for the South Asian community and the
personalized focus RWJ has portrayed for
our community. FIA has supported in ourterm the NYPD Desi Society and their ini-
tiatives and events, and in 2013 took our
community’s voice to Capitol Hill to make
our voices heard by our Congress members
on the clauses that were incorporated in the
bill S-744 that would have been detrimen-
tal to our community immigrants and small
businesses. The same year, FIA also par-
ticipated in the State Department’s Diwali
celebrations under the leadership of Asst.
Secretary South Asian Aairs Nisha Biswal.
SATimes: FIA helped hold visa camps in
2015 to bring Indian consulate to people’s
doorsteps, a laudable initiative. Please give
details and whether such camps will go on?
Ankur Vaidya: When the camps were rst
proposed in the run up to CKGS entering as
visa processing agency, there were major
backlogs that were pushed forward causing
the visas and passport backlog nightmares.
At one point, there were 130 emails per day
received on issues pertaining to visas and
passport and as we reached the ousted agen-
cy’s location to seek answers, the mistreat-
ment and corruption were on public display.
We proposed to CKGS and the CGI-NY our
intentions of taking the Visa Application
Centers to the community neighborhoods.
After a few tweaks we were able to put to-
gether a module with the assistance from
CKGS and Indus American Bank (IAB) and
tie up a community benetting proposal.
This proposal was sponsored in part
by Anil Bansal (Chairman of IAB) and FIA
for the liability insurance and other funds
needed. A visa camp setup was success-
fully tested and implemented in the Iselin,
NJ headquarters of IAB in February 2015.
Since then FIA has associated wit h about
eight visa camps including one in Raleigh,
NC and Boston. CKGS has been efficient
and has brought multiple community or-
ganizations together and replicated the
tested model and have performed 30 visa
camps and assisted over 5,000 community
By Parveen Chopra
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Ankur VaidyaRefocusing FIA on community development
Ankur Vaidya with his Vice PresidentSrujal Parikh at The White House -
Initiative for Asian Americansand Pacific Islanders. Ankur Vaidya personally attending to applicants at a visa camp.
Ankur Vaidya, 2-term FIA President 2014-15
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members, creating history by truly por-
traying their intention of serving our com-
munity here via efficient service with a
smile. Their gesture clearly displays their
commitment to go the extra mile when the
community needs it.
We do have plans for the camps though
they come at a cost and as a community
organization without the eminent need an
agreement to push the expenses becomes
tough due to lack of funding sources.
Moreover, the eciency CKGS brought in
the processing by the Visa, OCI and renun-
ciation has subsided the surge seen once.
In most cases now normal processing
and turnaround times have been restored.I compliment Mr. Kiran Nambiar and his
team at CKGS who have elevated the level of
service while adding thorough profession-
alism to their portfolio.
SATimes: What was the reach and impact
of FIA’s Clean India (Darjeeling) project?
Ankur Vaidya: We have achieved good prog-
ress with funds - over $10,000 collected and
counting. We want to do more with this ini-
tiative aligned with the vision of Hon. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi who has strongly
pushed for the Clean India campaign. The
added motivation for FIA is a strong person-
al connection to the Darjeeling Sanitation
project which is spearheaded by none other
than Riwo Norbhu (ex-head of Air India op-
erations in New York) who has been an ally
and a supporter of FIA. Now with our new
team of President Anand Patel and Execu-
tive Vice President Andy Bhatia handling this
project, I am sure we will surpass our next
benchmark of collecting $20,000 for it.
SATimes: Any plans to increase membership?
How can one join FIA? In what capacity?
Ankur Vaidya: FIA is an umbrella organiza-
tion of organizations, as much as we would
love and like to at the moment individuals
cannot become members. However, a non-
prot community organization can certainly
add to our fold and become a member by ll-
ing out an application after conrming the
criteria set forth by our Board of Trustees.
SATimes: How can an Indian American reach
out to FIA for assistance-any helpline number?
Ankur Vaidya: We constantly hear from our
community via our website: www.anynjct.
org / [email protected]. We do not have a
helpline number, however direct numbers of
designated committee members are placed
on the website and updated regularly.
SATimes: From time to time FIA has faced
criticism of keeping executive positions inthe hands of a small coterie of individuals
from one community. What is the truth? If
criticism is valid, what steps FIA is taking
to become more representative of the en-
tire Indian community in the tristate area?
Ankur Vaidya: From the time I entered the
Executive team, FIA has persistently tried to
shrug this stigma. We as a team have went
above and beyond in portraying merit based
recruitment and not favoritism in the orga-
nization which I believe can be very easily
understood if you review the committee of
the past 3 years. I cannot speak for what
happened beyond the time frame I entered
into the core executive team but I want
to add a statistical fact: If I run an Indian
organization in London or in Brampton,
Canada, and claim that majority of the
members are from one community then I
also need to consider the demographics.
Those areas I mentioned are predominant-
ly Punjabi community concentrated areas
and the likeliness to have majority Pun-
jabis in an organization there are high.
That does not mean those Indian organiza-
tions are biased against other communities
or provinces. It is a similar scenario here,
majority of our volunteers who participate
contribute and dedicate their time and eorts
are from one region. I want more participa-
tion and involvement from dierent groups,
however, there is only so much eort you can
place in a voluntary organization. It is volun-
tary as the name says it and I assure you we
don’t push always volunteers on the contrary
we need more volunteers time and again to
the point where due to lack of help we are
forced to hire 15 to 18 helpers during the
busy event season for helping us with tasks.
SATimes: Please also respond to the other
criticism in the press that FI A has not been
transparent about its accounts.
Ankur Vaidya: FIA is funded in majority
from sponsorships from corporations and
individual donors. The money is spent on
community benetting events and commu-
nity celebrations such as the visa camps,
Dance Pe Chance, India Day Parade (IDP),
etc. Whenever you perform community
events relating to causes, events of a scale
and magnitude of the India Day Parade
there will be expenses that are incurred
that can be swayed and misused to cause
blame. No one in FIA is salaried and usually
the President and a couple of others have
personal expenditures in excess of $20,000
each in realizing the position during their
respective tenures. This does not account
for the priceless aspect of missed oppor-
tunities on the personal business front or
time spent away from the family.
When all is said and done, for the execu-
tive team it’s a thankless job. For those who
see it from the other side of the fence with
reason and for our organizational and com-
munity’s transparency of the accounting
perspective in mind, we just had our annual
body meeting in the last two sittings (Sept
30 and Dec. 12, 2015) where up-to date ac-
counting statement signed and sealed by
an accounting rm was circulated.
During my executive committee tenure,
we mandate all executive committee mem-
bers sign each month’s accounting state-
ments after getting them complied by an
independent accountant. These are our
voluntary eorts by us volunteers, but for
those viewing with tinted glasses or should
I say tinted vision, they procure and make
the statements available with their take
and comments from time to time, question-
ing of the accounts. I am all for r ightful and
constructive criticism but not individual
motive driven bashing that is often seen.
For those questioning IDP expenditures,
I urge them to question the Thanksgiving
Day Parade as well, where the organizers
keep the cost a secret but there are articles
and blogs with estimated expenditure over
$8 million. They outspend the India Day Pa-
rade more than 15 times. Why not question
the expenditure and ask them to use that
same money for causes instead of celebra-
tion. The celebration is a sign of the pros-
perity of a community and the grandeur it
displays portrays our community. At 3.2million strong, our community needs to fo-
cus on how to elevate the grandeur of our
events not shrink it. Celebrity expenditure
if negated would cause the event to lose
crowds. Unfortunately, the modern day gods
and goddesses (celebrities) are the only
way to draw massive crowds to the tune of
2,00,000 plus even for a highly symbolic
event celebrating India’s independence day.
So, instead of bickering, let’s come togeth-
er to play a unifying role in this great land
of opportunity and play our supporting roles
of elevating our community and its people
who are striving and surging here and sup-
port the causes and celebrations instead of
criticizing them. We are from one mother-
land, mangoes of dierent branches from thesame tree. Let’s identify ourselves in a unify-
ing group as mangoes and not as a divided
group mangoes from the right branch or
mangoes from the high branch, etc.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Ankur Vaidya (left) with FIA delegation and Rep. Cathy Rogersat Capitol Hill during the S-744 resolution submission.
Ankur Vaidya along with Anand Patel and FIA team at the Community Reception held in New Jerseyto welcome India’s Ambassador to the US, Arun K. Singh (fourth from left).
Normally
disinterested in
getting clicked
with celebs, Ankur
Vaidya is yet seen
here with Omi Vaidya
of ‘3 Idiots’ fame and
his executive team
members Sanjay
Amin and Srujal
Parikh.
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Air India’s former Regional Manager-
Americas, Riwo Norbhu, who had his last
posting in New York, retired in the Fall of
2014 and returned to Darjeeling, in West
Bengal, where he grew up. He decided to help the people there
to build toilets with his own funds and with the help of his friends
in India. In September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi an-
nounced “Swachh Bharat” campaign in his Madison Square Gar-
den speech in New York and FIA leaders began to look for op-
portunities to be part of this national camp aign.
As Norbhu knew many people in FIA through his work at AirIndia, some of the people who had heard of his efforts thought
of supporting him instead of looking for another organization.
His approach was of interest as the recipients had to also con-
tribute towards building toilets. FIA has pledged to help build
100 bathrooms (toilet-cum-shower) in Darjeeling where more
than 60% of the population lacks basic toilet facilities.
A tax deductible contribution of $200 represents 57% of the
cost of building a bathroom for a family that must contribute
the balance 43% of the cost for
procurements of local supplies
and labor. FIA has been
soliciting donations in the
Fall of last year for it in
the form of a check for any
contribution payable to the
Federation of Indian Associ-
ations, NY-NJ-CT- Tri State.
Further details may be
obtained from any FIA executive
committee members or by
contacting Andy Bhatia
at 917 476 0725.
Andy Bhatia, Executive Vice President, FIA, has been coordi-nating the Darjeeling Sanitation Project since early 2015.
After retiring as Air India’s RegionalManager-Americas, Riwo Norbhu
has been helping people withbuilding toilets in Darjeeling.
DARJEELING SANITATION PROJECT
FIA pledges to build 100 bathrooms in Darjeeling
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Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS)
announced on Sept 21, 2015 the suc‑
cessful completion of 30 visa camps
across 20 locations in the US. These camps
facilitated the Visa, OCI and Renunciation of
Indian passport servicing of thousands of
applicants over a period of six months. After
a proposal from FIA President back in
September 2014, the camps commenced in
starting from the Indus American Bank (IAB)
head office in Iselin, NJ from February
2015.
After the initial round of camps in associa‑tion with FIA‑Tristate / CKGS / IAB / CGI‑NY,
various other community organizations
joined in, resulting in over 30 visa camps
which concluded in San Francisco Bay Area
on September 12, 2015. Overall, more than
5,000 applicants were serviced and advised
about their documentation, enabling them
to complete their applications utilizing the
visa setup format provided by CKGS in their
respective neighborhoods.
Congratulating CKGS, Consul General in
NY, Dnyaneshwar Mulay said, "The visa
camps have played a critical role in bringing
the community closer to the Indian con‑
sulate. The outreach efforts mean that con‑
sular services are a pleasant experience
now." Speaking after the conclusion of visacamps, Kiran Nambiar, Vice President &
Country Manager, CKGS, said, “The primary
aim behind setting up the visa camps across
various locations was to bring in an element
of convenience to those who wish to travel
to India from the US. We are happy to
announce that we have successfully serviced
applications of over 5,000 applicants at
their doorstep within a span of six months.”
He thanked the Embassy of India in
Washington D.C. and the Indian consulates,
adding, “We kicked off our visa camps in
February 2015 in association with FIA; the
support we have seen from local Indian
associations and the community has been
overwhelming.”
Said Ankur Vaidya, President – FIA (NY‑NJ‑CT), "From the time CKGS took over the
highly stressed and 'stand‑offish' situation
when incomplete and pending application
process and sensitive documentation being
left in a state of limbo was the norm, CKGS
has established the right attitude, priority
and commitment to serve the community.
They have expeditiously cleared the back‑
logs and have brought the visa/OCI to
unprecedented ease and pace along with
exceptional customer service all with a
smile. With the support from the Embassy
and the respective consulates around USA
they have created history by taking their
efficient efforts to the doorsteps of the
Indian community in the USA and thus have
left a positive impact on the community inturn reflecting that positive branding on the
Government of India and the External
Affairs Ministry of India."
This is excellent service
as compared to any past
experience I had. I am
very impressed and highly rec‑
ommend this to all to my
friends & family members. Itʼs
like Marriott in hotel services as
compare to junk motel in corner of
the town,” wrote Darshana Patel, a
palpably happy applicant.
This is just one of the many apprecia‑
tion letters that CKGS has received over thelast one year. CKGS, with the support of the
Embassy of India in Washington, DC & its
consulates in New York, Atlanta, Chicago,
Houston and San Francisco, has been render‑
ing exceptional service to the
Indian community and US citi‑
zens planning to travel to India.
Extending the hours of opera‑
tions by working weekends and
holidays, organizing visa
camps, launch of new website,
taking additional office space
to accommodate more appli‑
cants in the waiting area –
CKGS has taken many initia‑
tives in the past two years!CKGS has launched the beta
version of the new website and
the fully functional website is
expected to Go Live in 4‑6
weeksʼ time. “Applicants find it
difficult to understand the visa type and all
the rules, regulations, documentation
required to complete their application. For
example, there are 17 different visa cate‑
gories ‑ it is easy to get lost. Our new website
design aims to address just this. The first
page widget gathers the information from the
applicant and then displays only the informa‑
tion regarding the visa category that one is
eligible for,” says Kiran Nambiar, Vice
President & Country Manager CKGS.
In a remarkable initiative, CKGS introducedvisa camps, in collaborati on with FIA, to
raise the service level to all the applicants
wanting to visit India. CKGS organised 30+
successful visa camps across America.
“The sheer size of America makes it impos‑
sible for applicants to visit the application
center in person. For example an applicant
living in Seattle, Wash, will have to spend
thousands of dollars in flight tickets and a
full two day trip to San Francisco Application
Centre. So, we took the OCI camp to Seattle.
It costs us a lot of money to do this, but we
are committed to the cause of the Indian
community,” added Nambiar.
Letter to CKGS from Jagdish Sharma, of
Indo American Friendship Forum, confirmsthis: “…Really CKGS went out of way to serve
the Seattle area Indian community with full
force… Your full teamʼs dedication for the
cause is exemplary indeed without any break
working non‑stop for long hours.”
Balaji Radakrishnan, President of India
Association of New Hampshire, wrote: “As the
saying goes, ʻproof of pudding is in the eat‑
ingʼ; all of the patrons of the visa camp…
gave overwhelmingly positive feedback on
every one of your staff members. Thanks
again for your exceptional service and sup‑
port!” Ankur Vaidya of FIA, Nirav Patel of
Triangle Gujarati Association/ Yogi Divine
Society, Srinivas Gunukula of India
Association of North Texas have all appreciat‑
ed CKGS. CKGS is the only authorized ServiceProvider for Embassy of India and its con‑
sulates across USA for facilitating visa, OCI,
Renunciation of Indian Citizenship support
services.
14
Applicants being served by CKGS at a visacamp using Indus American Bank location.
FIA President Ankur Vaidya (in the middle) flanked by CKGS Country ManagerKiran Nambiar, Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay, and
others at the conclusion of the visa camps.
CKGS successfully conducted over 30 visa camps allover USA, serving 5,000 people at their doorsteps
FIA suggested, CKGS perfected
Extendingbusiness hours,holding visa camps,new website,enlarging office spaceto accommodate moreapplicants ‒ CKGS hastaken many initiativesto serve better.
Burning midnight oil at a visa camp. Indian Visa regime hasmany rules that make it dif ficult for ordinary folk to understand,
CKGS goes out of its way to help.
CKGS receives
praise for its
services
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By SATimes Team
ASouth Asian Times editor remembers
witnessing in awe some years ago the
fiery and impassioned Ramesh Patel,
FIA Chairman, rail against officials of Indian
consulate in New York. It was a meeting
called by the consulate with community lead‑
ers and media to discuss the issue of pass‑
port surrender after hue and cry in the com‑
munity over high surrender fee slapped sud‑
denly by the Indian government. Ramesh
Patel raised his voice, articulating the angerof the community. Eventually, Indian diaspo‑
raʼs pressure bore fruit, and the fee blow was
softened.
But for the editor the episode left a lasting
impression about how strongly Ramesh Patel
cared for the community, fighting for which
he would throw decorum out the window.
Other old‑timers remember other tougher
fights Patel fought and won during his over
four decades of community activism– for
example the Dotbusters episode when
Indians were targeted in Jersey City for look‑
ing Indian.
No wonder he is often referred to as the
Iron Man, the Sardar Patel of Indian commu‑
nity, and, of course, the Bhisham Pitamah of
FIA. He has been active in FIA since 1984,was its first two‑term President in 1988‑90,
and has been its Chairman ever since you
can remember.
For his decades long single‑focus work on
behalf of the Indian diaspora in USA, he elic‑
its awe and admiration in equal measure
from community leaders. As was witnessed
when he was felicitated by FIA for winning
the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in
May 2013. Over 300 guests from all walks of
life gathered included government officials,
FIA stalwarts, FIA past presidents, communi‑
ty leaders, entrepreneurs, friends and family.
The then FIA President Sanjay Amin praised
the commitment and service of Ramesh Patel
and the dedication, devotion and sacrifices
made by Mrs. Sucheta Ramesh Patel. Amin
also highlighted FIAʼs growth under the
chairmanship of Patel. H.R. Shah and Dr
Sudhir Parikh, both recipients of the Ellis
Island Medal themselves, said Patel deserved
the honor for his stellar achievements. There
was also an acknowledgment certificate from
the NYPD Union (Ramesh Patel put in 24
year s in the pol ice forc e, risi ng to senior
positions). On his part, Patel dedicated the
medal to FIA.
But even that coveted medal is too small
compared to what Ramesh Patel has done forthe cause of promoting the interests and
aspirations of the Indian diaspora in the USA.
Realizing the importance of uniting the
community to influence political, diplomatic
and legislative decisions, he played a
pioneering role in forming
numerous organiza‑
tions to represent
and fight for issues
of the Indian dias‑
pora. He also nur‑
tured leaders of
associations of
I n d i a n
Americans, and
used his oratory
skills and teambuilding abili‑
ties to represent
the issues of
Indian diaspora
to US Senators and other decision makers in
the country. He has also been a cultural
ambassador of India by organizing India Day
Parades and cultural events in the USA to
showcase Indian culture and bring the com‑
munity members together to celebrate their
roots.
As a true representative of Indian commu‑
nity, Ramesh Patel had the distinction of
honoring Indian Prime Ministers from Indira
Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Rajiv Gandhi to
Chandra Shekhar, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, IK Gujral and Dr. Manmohan
Singh.
Ramesh Patelʼs many initiatives have
shown remarkable results. He has successful‑
ly lobbied against bills that go against India
or the Indian community, raised funds for
support to victims of natural disasters and
terror attacks, and created a sense of pride
among Indians in the USA. The organizations
he formed have been catalysts for the forma‑
tion of associations of Indian professionals
and businesspeople that have driven the eco‑
nomic growth of the Indian diaspora in theUSA.
Ramesh Patel started community work
soon after arriving to study in America in
1967. He created the Indian Student
Association at the Stevens Institute of
Technology in Hoboken, NJ. This posed
many challenges at the time as the number
of Indian students arriving was too small to
have a voice in American colleges.
Realizing the level of distress among
Indian students caused by homesickness and
culture shock, Patel took upon himself to
make them comfortable. He would help new
arrivals register at the college, find them
suitable lodging and boarding. More, to help
them feel at home, he secured the use of
auditorium at the Stevens institute forscreening Hindi movies. He also organized
Diwali celebrations and other events at the
campus. Next came encouraging Indian stu‑
dents to take up gainful jobs.
When Ramesh Patel was invited to attend
an address by Smt. Indira Gandhi, Prime
Minister of India at the time, at Columbia, he
presented a check of $100,000 to her as
contributions to the PMʼs Fund and Family
Planning Fund. When Mrs Gandhi expressed
the need for an umbrella organization to
bring Indians in America together (some‑
thing that Ramesh Patel too believed was a
necessary step for the Indian diaspora to be
empowered), he worked towards forming the
Indo‑American Association of New Jerseyfrom 1973‑1992 and further developed the
Federation of Indian Americans (FIA). He
held positions of President, Vice‑President
and Jt. Secretary of FIA between 1984 and
1990. The initial days of running FIA were
not easy – the team had to work hard to get
knowledge about the systems, politics and
legislations in the USA.
Immigration Fight forFamily Reunification
In the mid‑1980s came a bill called
Simpson Mazzoli Immigration Reform and
Control Act that aimed to control immigra‑
tion of Asians and Hispanics. The proposal
that concerned the Indian community was
reducing the quota for family reunification
visas. If passed this bill would not have
allowed the development of the Indian dias‑
16
PROF I LE
Ramesh Patel
The Sardar Patel of Indian communityRamesh Patel,
FIA Chairman
Ramesh Patel receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2013.
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pora in the USA to the extent that it has.
Ramesh Patel lobbied strongly by collecting
petitions from Asians, seeking support from
Congress members and representing the
case to concerned authorities. After thou‑
sands of calls and faxes sent against this reg‑
ulation, meetings at Capitol Hill, etc, the bill
was stalled and finally status quo prevailed.
Dotbusters Fight forProtection of
Indian CommunityWhile Patel was President of FIA and theIndo American Association of New Jersey, a
street gang nicknamed Dotbusters threat‑
ened Indians in 1987 with violence and
vandalism. The gang, named for the ʻbindiʼ or
dot that Indian women use to adorn their
foreheads, assaulted Indians and planned
extreme violence on the persons and proper‑
ties of Indians. Among the many racial inci‑
dents in Jersey City, the most heinous was
the beating of Navroze Mody who went into
coma and died after a few days. Ramesh Patel
met senior officials and initiated protests to
ensure that the New Jersey government,
which included some people prejudiced
against the Asian communities, took an anti‑
hate crime stance. As a result, the Senatorfrom New Jersey not only announced strict
punishment for racial violence against
minorities but also declared that juveniles
involved would be prosecuted as adults.
Robert Menendez, currently US Senator,
Union City Major and NJ State Assemblyman
then, introduced a bill in New Jersey assem‑
bly to form a task force monitoring and col‑
lecting data for racially motivated attacks on
minority, eventually ending the menace.
Pressler Amendment Fight for National Security
One issue that concerned India was the US
Governmentʼs military package to supply
sophisticated AWACS military plane and F15Aircrafts to Pakistan. Realizing the implica‑
tions on cross‑border terrorism in India
because of such aircrafts that could carry
nuclear arms, Ramesh Patel motivated the
Indians living in the US to be part of the
effort to stall the supply of these aircrafts.
50 buses were chartered to bring Indian ori‑
gin people from all North East states to
Capitol Hill in Washington DC for a rally to
protest and make Senators aware of the
potential danger of such supplies. Stephen
Solarz, Chairman of the House Committee,
was presented a memorandum. The result:
the historic Pressler Amendment was passed
which stalled the transfer of weapons and
aircrafts to Pakistan.
Empowerment ofIndian Diaspora
Ramesh Patel has long been in the van‑
guard of moves seeking empowerment of
Indian Americans to secure more lobbying
power in the US Government and administra‑
tion. On more than one occasion, he lobbied
successfully in Washington DC when critical
votes related to India were being discussed
before Congress.
During his tenure as President in 1988‑90,
FIA expanded to a 76‑member organization
and opened a permanent office in New York.
Besides FIA, he also served as Chairman of
National Organizations of Indian Americans
(NOIA). When Patel became President of
National Federation of Indian Americans
(NFIA) for two successive terms from 1988‑
92, he organized many events to improve thequality of life of Indians in the USA. As chair‑
man of the Gujarati Association of North
America (GANA), Ramesh Patel was instru‑
mental in organizing the first ever Gujarati
Convention in 2006.
Another unique landmark in the communi‑
ty work of Ramesh Patel is the installation of
the Mahatma Gandhi statue in New York.
The idea of having this statue at a prominent
place in the city was proposed by Yogesh
Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
Taking on the challenge of convincing the
city authorities, Ramesh Patel and other
community leaders succeeded in getting the
statue installed at Union Square, where it is
felicitated every year on 2nd October.
AntiTerrorism StandRamesh Patel strongly believes that terror‑
ism attacks should be strongly condemned
and in his rallies he has often argued that
there is nothing more cowardly and dastard‑
ly than terror attacks on the innocent citi‑
zens. In 1984, during the India Day Parade
led by Grand Marshal Raj Kapoor,
Ambassador P.K. Kaul and Mayor Edward
Koch, the floats were attacked and destroyed
by a group of Khalistani militant activists
creating panic. A few months later, FIA
organized a rally mourning and condemning
the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi by a
Khalistani sympathizer. Unconcerned about
his safety, Ramesh Patel kept having blunt
dialogues with Khalistani activists, telling
them to take up issues with the Indian gov‑
ernment instead of cowardly attacks on
innocent people. Ramesh Patel also worked
to dispel erroneous beliefs about the
Kashmir issue resulting from Pakistani prop‑
aganda. One of his major rallies was outside
the UN building in 1995, which aimed to
highlight evils of terrorism, create awareness
about why Kashmir is an integral part of
India, and bring to fore the Simla Agreement
between the two countries.
After the catastrophic terror attack on
World Trade Center, Ramesh Patel led rallies
and released advertisements expressing soli‑
darity of the Indian community with the USA.
Ramesh Patel actively campaigned to raise
support for victims of natural disasters and
terror attacks. Following the Kargil War, he
worked with then FIA President, Yashpal Soi,
to raise a substantial amount for injured sol‑
diers and the families of martyrs, which was
sent directly to the army welfare fund.
He personally visited Gujarat following the
Latur earthquake on January 26, 2001. This
earthquake killed and wounded tens of thou‑
sands and destroyed about a million proper‑
ties including houses. He was a catalyst in
the creation of the delegation that visited
Gujarat later in the same year, visiting earth‑
quake affected sites from Ahmedabad to
Kutch district. This visit led to Bill Clinton,
who came with the delegation, to form the
America India Foundation (AIF) with money
raised by the Indian American associations.
IndiaUSA RelationsRamesh Patel has always taken every
opportunity possible to further ties between
India and the USA. Around the beginning of the 1990s, Indiaʼs ʻcommand economyʼ was
seen as being pro‑Soviet Russia and there
was a lack of understanding about Indian
issues in the USA, with many prejudiced sen‑
ators proposing bills that went against India.
When Ramesh Patel was President of the
Indian‑American Forum for Political
Education (IAFPE), the "Friends of India"
Caucus was proposed by the IAFPE mem‑
bers. Using his close relations with the law‑
makers, Ramesh Patel worked on implement‑
ing this caucus to enhance their understand‑
ing of India as a large democracy and a natu‑
ral strategic ally of America.
Ramesh Patel also played a key role in fur‑
thering U.S.‑India Civilian Nuclear Agreement
by meeting leaders in the Congress and theBush Administration to turn the tide in
India's favor.
The Senate passed the agreement by a
bipartisan vote of 86‑13 after the Congress
voted in its favor by 298‑117. He arranged
several high level meetings between the US
Lawmakers and their Indian counterparts in
order to facilitate a better understanding
amongst the two countries, a step that led to
the N‑deal.
He has also been promoting the idea of
investing in India among the Indian
Diaspora. Ramesh Patel continues to be com‑
mitted to empowering the Indian community
today and often expresses his pleasure at the
political clout that Indians have begun to
command with an accelerating presence inthe political system, the growing number of
Indian professionals including lawyers, and
the increasing wealth of the community.
17
Ramesh & Sucheta Patel with then Senator Hillary Clinton when she visited New Jersey.
Though stern looking, Ramesh Patel is considered a great orator, and as these pictrures show, can be charming and witty too.
Realizing the importance of uniting the community to influencepolitical, diplomatic and legislative decisions, Ramesh Patel played apioneering role in forming numerous organizations to represent andfight for issues of the Indian diaspora. He used his oratory skills andteam building abilities to represent the issues of the community tolawmakers and other decision makers in the country. He has also beena cultural ambassador of India by organizing India Day Parades andcultural events in the USA to showcase Indian culture and bring
the community members together to celebrate their roots.
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Federation of Indian Associations cele‑
brates Republic Day of India by hold‑
ing an inimitable dance competition,
“Dance Pe Chance” every year for the
young generation of the tri state area of
NJ, NY and CT. The competition is usually
held on the last Saturday of January or
first Saturday of February. FIA promotes
the rich cultural heritage, music and vari‑
ous dance forms of India through Dance
Pe Chance. The 2015 edition boasted 625
participants and 26 performances.
The grand event promoting the second
generation of the Indian diaspora was
held at the prestigious State Theater on
Jan 31. Renowned dignitaries and celebri‑
ties attended this sold out show.
“I am proud of all participants whose
performance will inspire our youngsters
to keep alive our culture and tradition,
which is the main goal of FIA in organiz‑
ing ʻDance Pe Chanceʼ competition for the
last few years ,” says Ankur Vaidya,
President, FIA.
Celebrities such as Amir Ali, Sanjeeda,
Kamya Punjabi, Violinist Daisy Joplin, Omi
Vaidya among others have graced the
event in the past. ʻDance Pe Chanceʼ also
provides a grand platform to dancers and
choreographers, to showcase their talent.
It is a Bollywood dance extravaganza
that sets all of New Jersey alight with the
vivacity and passion that epitomizes
Bollywood. The highoctane show features
the glitz and glamour associated with the
songs and dances of Bollywood.
The 2016 event too is equally promising
and hopes to surpass your entertainment
expectations.
I got associated with FIA
in the year 2011. I had the
opportunity to be the Co‑Chair
of Dance Pe Chance 2012. It
has been a magnificent journey
wherein I got an inimitable
opportunity of community serv‑
ice and was instrumental inpromoting Indian culture, her‑
itage, music and dance. Dance
Pe Chance is a dance competi‑
tion held in commemoration
of Indiaʼs Republic Day every
ye ar in th e mo nt h of
January/February.
I had the much venerated
privilege of being the Chair per‑
son for Dance Pe Chance 2015.
The event created history with
the maximum number of partic‑
ipants( 624). As the Chair per‑
son for Dance Pe Chance 2016,
I look forward to an equally
magnificent competition as waslast year. More than 12 schools
are anticipated to participate
and more than 600 participants
will showcase their talent as
they prance on the stage of
prestigious State Theatre.
I was inducted in FIAʼs
Executive Committee of 2014
and 2015 in the capacity of
Joint Sec retar y. For the year
2016 I will be working in the
capacity of Secretary.”
Chhavi runs an IT consultancy.
For the past 12 years, Arya DanceAcademy has been a part of FIA's
dance competitions. Each year, we aim topresent a unique and flawless presentationwhich the audience will enjoy. Thanks to thehard work and dedication of the Arya stu‑
dents and our team of instructors, weare blessed to have won numerousfirst place awards at the prestigiouscompetition. We look forward to this
year's Dance Pe Chance and wish allthe teams best of luck!”
Arya Dance Academy now has 4 5
centers across 8 states
18
Chhavi DharayanChair, DPC 2016
ENTERTA INMENT
Founder, Arya Dance Academy
To celebrateIndia'sRepublic Day,FIA has beenholding ahigh‑octanedancecompetitionfor the past12 years.
Celebs like Omi Vaidya of '3 Idiots' fame are invited to Dance Pe Chanceto encourage young participants.
Rupal Patel
“ “
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The General Council Meeting of the Federation of Indian Associations
(FIA) of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut was held on December
13th 2015 at Royal Albert Palace in Fords, NJ.
The Election Committee, headed by Yash Paul Soi (Chairman), Ram
Gadhavi and Dr. Pravin Pandi, announced the results of the election of
the Executive Committee for the year 2016. The elected members are:
FIAʼs New Executive
Committee
LOOK I NG AHEAD
Anand Patel, incoming President of
FIA, told The South Times that during
his presidency (2016), heʼd like to
stay the path that FIA has been following
for the past 40 years. But, yes, he stated,
“We will like to add value to the relation‑
ship between India and US. Also help
resolve any crisis if it comes up for the
community.”
On the visa camps held last year with
service provider CKGS and Indian con‑
sulates, Mr Patel said they became neces‑
sary because of the earlier bad service pro‑
vided by BLS. “Weʼll resume them if
required.”
Among the achievements of FIA, he cites
many issues such as immigration that FIA
has pursued tirelessly over the past 40
years. The significance of FIAʼs signature
India Day Parade, in his view, is not just the
numbers that throng it in New York every
mid‑August, but the spirit of love for India
it brings in NRIs. “That the community can
come together, march together, stay togeth‑
er, is the best achievement of the parade.”
About links with other FIAs –the promi‑
nent ones are in Chicago and California,
one is coming up in Georgia̶Anand Patel
says that FIAʼs Chairman of many years
standing Ramesh Patel communicates with
them. Anand Patel also points out that
besides the two non‑Gujaratis in his execu‑
tive committee, there are quite a few indi‑
viduals from other communities in sub‑
committees. “FIA is open to and invites all
who want to work hard in service of the
community,” he stresses.
Associated with FIA for many years, he
was Executive Vice President in Ankur
Vaidyaʼs team in 2015. He will take oath as
President along with his team on January
30 at the Dance Pe Chance event in New
Brunswick, NJ.
Franklin Lakes, NJ based Anand Patel is
one of the largest Dunkinʼ Donuts fran‑
chisee with 45 outlets in New Jersey.
‑‑Parveen Chopra
(From left): Mohin Patel, Chhavi Dharayan, Anand Patel (President),Andy Bhatia, Mahesh Bhagia, and Mahesh Dubal
Anand Patel (President)
Andy Bhatia (Executive Vice President)
Mahesh Bhagia (Vice President)
Chhavi Dharayan (Secretary)
Mohin Patel (Joint Secretary)
Mahesh Dubal (Treasurer)
Ankur Vaidya (Immediate Past President)
FIA Chairman Ramesh Patel welcomed the
new Executive Committee.
‘Getting community to come togetheris IDP’s best achievement’
Anand Patel
Incoming FIA President
FIAʼs Venerable Board of Trustees
20
Ramesh Patel is called the BhishamPitamah of FIA. He has been associatedwith FIA since 1984, was two‑termPresident in 1988‑90 and Chairman eversince people can recall.
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I served as
President of FIA in
2013. My wife Daxa
Amin and I are associat‑
ed with FIA for seven
years. I have lived in USA
for almost 30 years and
am an IT professional.
From the beginning we
have been involved in
various community activ‑
ities.
During my term as FIApresident we looked at
the major issues con‑
cerning our community and associated with various charity
based organizations that reach out to people in need. We
aggressively addressed the visa processing issues and
brought in methods for ef ficient visa processing. We also
honored community leaders who have devoted their life to
social and community causes. We lifted FIA to new heights in
the value we provide to the community.
It was my great pleasure to pass the presidency to Ankur
Vaidya who is a young, dynamic and versatile community
leader. I have been a part of his Executive team in 2014 and
2015. Under him, FIA has reached new heights not only in
addressing the real concerns of the community but also in
showing by example how a community based organization
should work to served the community.
The best example of Vaidyaʼs work came when his teamorganized a number of visa camps in association with the
Consulate General of India and CKGS at various places
in North East America. I watched how a high num‑
ber of elderly people came and Vaidya's team
assist them in all steps of visa application
process.
I also have seen Ankur Vaidyaʼs
capability in reaching out to
high ranked diplomats to
activate them to quickly
resolve our communi‑
tyʼs concerns/prob‑
lems. I also con‑
gratulate him
for record
b r e a k i n g
crowd atI n d i a
D a y
Parade in 2015 and 2016 and passing the message of our
motherland to next generation of Indian Americans.
On behalf of FIA, I also thank and congratulate The South
Asian Times for support, recognition and encouragement.”
I am Vice President
of FIA and have
been part of the execu‑
tive committee for the
last five years, handling
PR and securing spon‑
sorships for the organi‑
zation.My passion for serving
the community comes
from my parents who
served a small town of
Gujarat through Lions
Club. I was leader of a
team coordinating the
first ever South Asian
4th of July celebration in Edison Township through South
Asian Community Outreach. I have also served as a Co‑Chair
in Dushera Festival in Edison. I was part of Prime Minister
Modiʼs visit event in 2014 and handled PMʼs security and
public relations. I am also Vice President of the Edison
Cricket Club which has legends like Sunil Gavaskar as hon‑
orary members. I work for NYPD.”
It has been my honor
and privilege to serve
this organization as
Secretary (2014) and
Parade Chair (2015), both
under the exemplary leader‑
ship of President Ankur
Vaidya. I am also grateful to
the FIA Trustees for giving
me this opportunity to serve
my motherland while living
in the US.
As Parade Chair my pri‑
mary responsibility was to
work with the city officials
and acquire all required
permits for the parade and to ensure that every‑
thing functioned in sync.
My wonderful team assisted me and
worked by my side to make sure we
achieve success. It was a first for
FIA to enlist with the
Guinness Book of World
Records to try to break
two records on the
same day: most dif‑
ferent flags flown
simultaneously
and most
c o n f e t t i
popped at
a single
event.”
22
Ofce-bearers on
why FIA matters
TEAM S P I R I T
Bipin
Patel
wasPresident of FIA in
2011 and currently sits on
its Board of Trustees.The one highlight of his term he
remembers was the ceremony at
the Empire State Building to light itup in the colors of the tricolor in com‑
memoration of Indiaʼs Independence
Day, which was a first.And the one thing he suggests FIA should
get into is politics. “FIA should support SouthAsian candidates to get elected and also do
fundraising for them. This should start from the
school/town/county to state levels. This wouldmake our communityʼs presence felt in the main‑
stream,” he argues.Bipin Patel also wants the organization to help
women in distress, like in domestic abuse cases.
To get young people involved in FIA and thus in com‑munity affairs, Patel suggests that seniors should step
down from their positions, making way for the new gen‑
eration ‑‑ while giving them guidance give them freedomtoo. He agrees that the problem persists in other commu‑
nity organizations too. He draws a parallel to Indian poli‑tics: “Only when Advani and Joshi stepped aside could
Modi become prime minister in 2014.”
He also agrees that FIA being an organization of Indiansshould be representative of all communities.
On linking with other FIAs elsewhere in America, Bipin
Patel remembers that during his term in 2011, they used to
talk to other FIAs to “catch ideas”. “Yes, we should helpfund young politicians even beyond the tristate area,” he
says.
BipinPatel is a suc‑
cessful business‑
man who has inter‑ests in retail, restaurants
(including 9 Buffalo WildsWings) and real estate, spread
out over New Jersey Maryland
and Pennsylvania, but all consoli‑dated now under his Ampal Group.
He is still one of the major investors in
Indus American Bank, of which he waschairman for over two years before step‑
ping down to focus on his business. “Duringmy term at Indus, I helped over 75 business
owners guiding them get loans,” he states.
Patel is also the first person from Indian origin toserve on the Board of National Association of
Convenience Stores (NACS), with over 2,000 retail
member companies operating more than 75,000stores in the US and 300,000 stores worldwide.
Patel also served as Chairman and founding president(now retired) of Asian American Retailers Association
(AARA), which has over 1,000 gas s tations, convenience
stores, and liquor stores as members.A man of many parts, Patel also produced the Bollywood
movie The Hangman (2005) starring Om Puri and
Shreyas Talpade but it ran into some problems before a
delayed release. Now he is ready to venture into anotherfilm project. This never‑say‑die spirit has made him a suc‑
cessful entrepreneur and sought after community leader.
-Parveen Chopra
‘FIA should back
South Asian candidates
get elected’
Flanked by actress Rani Mukherjee and Ramesh Patel(FIA Chair) Bipin Patel as FIA President ringing the
closing bell at Nasdaq on August 22, 2011to mark Indiaʼs Independence Day.
Bipin Patel, Member, FIA’s Board of Trustees
Srujal ParikhVice President
Saurin ParikhGeneral Secretary
Alok KumarTreasurer
Nishil Parikh Parade Chair
Sanjay Amin FIA President 2013
“
“
“
Privileged to serve the organization that has been serving the Indian community for 45 years.
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