ARTESIA,CA-Indian American Heritage Foundation, GOPIO-LA, GOPIO-OC, GOPIO-IE, and NFIA jointly organized American Independence Day celebration on July 4 at Tara’s Himalayan Restaurant here, and also paid tribute to Indian pioneers and patriots who started India independence movement in the USA in the early 20th century. The celebration attended by 200 guests included a seminar which covered a wide range of topics...
The seminar started with a patriotic song by GOPIO-LA president Navin Gupta and national anthems of America and India. Inder Singh, in his welcome remarks, talked about Americans’ sacrifices to gain freedom from the British.He also talked about the early Indian immigrants’ unimagined hardships, racial violence, bigotry, and discrimination which they faced in the US.
Vasu Pawar, President, GOPIO Inland Empire, gave a detailed account of the American war for independence while Dilip Butani, GOPIO Area Coordinator, Southern California, spoke about early Indian immigration and settlement problems. He explained how Indian workers faced the wrath of local labor unions’ jealousy and bigotry. At times, they were beaten up and robbed off their belongings. Kewal Kanda, Treasurer, GOPIO Intl, spoke about the struggle of Indians for US citizenship. He said early Indian immigrant faced many hardships in finding good paying jobs, had to live in shanty homes, and were not allowed to buy property. Navin Gupta, president of GOPIO-LA, explained how India Independence Movement, known as Gadar Movement was started in US to free India from the yolk of British rule. Several thousand overseas Indians left their businesses and jobs and went to India to free their motherland from the British. Ashok Madan, former NFIA President, talked about philanthropic contributions of Indians, which far outweigh those by any other recent immigrant community to the US. Inder Singh made a power point presentation on Indian-Americans who have significantly contributed in the fields of sports, education, economy, agriculture, yoga, politics, and in several other fields. Rajinder Dhunna President Rajput Association, Abdulgani Shaikh and Amrit Bhandari talked about the sacrifices of heroes of Gadar movement, Sohan Singh, Lala Hardyal, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Maulvi Barkatullah and Krishan Varma.
Aparna Hande, past president of FIA-SC gave the vote of thanks, while Inder Singh, principal organizer thanked many for providing logistic support in managing the event.
Vasu Pawar, President, GOPIO Inland Empire, gave a detailed account of the American war for independence while Dilip Butani, GOPIO Area Coordinator, Southern California, spoke about early Indian immigration and settlement problems. He explained how Indian workers faced the wrath of local labor unions’ jealousy and bigotry. At times, they were beaten up and robbed off their belongings. Kewal Kanda, Treasurer, GOPIO Intl, spoke about the struggle of Indians for US citizenship. He said early Indian immigrant faced many hardships in finding good paying jobs, had to live in shanty homes, and were not allowed to buy property. Navin Gupta, president of GOPIO-LA, explained how India Independence Movement, known as Gadar Movement was started in US to free India from the yolk of British rule. Several thousand overseas Indians left their businesses and jobs and went to India to free their motherland from the British. Ashok Madan, former NFIA President, talked about philanthropic contributions of Indians, which far outweigh those by any other recent immigrant community to the US. Inder Singh made a power point presentation on Indian-Americans who have significantly contributed in the fields of sports, education, economy, agriculture, yoga, politics, and in several other fields. Rajinder Dhunna President Rajput Association, Abdulgani Shaikh and Amrit Bhandari talked about the sacrifices of heroes of Gadar movement, Sohan Singh, Lala Hardyal, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Maulvi Barkatullah and Krishan Varma.
Aparna Hande, past president of FIA-SC gave the vote of thanks, while Inder Singh, principal organizer thanked many for providing logistic support in managing the event.
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