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Indians in the USA and UK
THE over two million Indians in the USA and 1.3 million in the UK have formed themselves into hundreds of organisations and associations based on their ethnic identities, professions, business, trades, traits, regions, religions and faiths. From the '''paid'' invitation cards to the receptions, hosted in honour of Home Minister L.K. Advani during his visit to these countries recently, it was interesting to note as to how much effort must have gone into arranging them so as to present a bouquet of ''oneness''. In fact, to accommodate all shades of opinions and not to diffuse the spectrum of diversity, the invitation to the reception at the Regency Ballroom of Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington was from the Ambassador, Lalit Mansingh. In Los Angeles, the credit
line on the invitation to the reception at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel
was of the Indo-American Community of Southern California. In Chicago,
as many as 57 plus ''participating organisations'' were listed in small
print at the back page of the four-page invitation card, which also
carried the names of all the 82-member reception committee. The surprise
of the reception was the garlanding of Advani by Hema Malini. In
Chicago, there was also a strong presence of the ''Overseas Friends of
BJP (USA)." The dossier given to the media persons contained the
thumb-nail sketches of at least 19 different organisations, from the
Punjabi Cultural Society to Malayalee Association and listed several
others, including the Bengali, Telgu, Kannada and Gujarati Associations. |
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The theme of address of Mr Advani was almost the same at all the receptions. He eulogised the achievements of the BJP-led NDA government, talked of political stability, absence of leadership crisis in the BJP. He regaled the audience with his wit and humour while conveying the message that India had come of age and the 21st century would really be ''India's century.' Interestingly, while acknowledging the potential, capacity and capability of the Indian communities to make their presence felt across the Atlantic Ocean, Advani wondered why those back home in India failed to show their mettle. He himself went on to answer it. ''It was, perhaps, the system failure or lack of good governance which did not allow the communities back home to show their merit. This could happen only if the good governance was put in place with honest intent, efficient delivery system at the cutting edge and ensuring security and stability that would lead to development''. There was also another side to these receptions — small demonstrations and some slogan raising by individual or a group of organisations at some of the venues. If one saw New York-based ''The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist and Christian Unity Council'' (an ethno-religious minority and tribal civil rights advocacy group) circulating a 208-page illustrated document titled ''Bangladesh—a portrait of covert genocide,' one also witnessed ''The Coalition to Support Democracy and Pluralism in India'' and other organisations like the Federation of Indian American Christian Organisations of North America demonstrating in Washington to seek security and safety of their communities back home. Tailpiece Standing at the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, I asked the cop on duty, "How long has this place been the official residence of the British Prime Minister?" Without batting an eye-lid, he flipped open his wallet and fished out a crumpled newspaper cutting titled, ''Downing St." Before I could complete my request for a photo-copy, he held the golden knob, gave a gentle knock at the door and vanished inside. He was out minutes later with a couple of copies of the newspaper clipping. Here is what it says:
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