IMC-USA Reveals an Impressive Array of Speakers for its Third Annual Convention
September 16, 2005, Detroit, MI. The third annual convention of IMC-USA, an advocacy group focused on the Indian Diaspora in the United States, is scheduled for October 1st and is gathering momentum. In an address to a meeting of the leaders and activists of Indian origin residing in the greater Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Shaik Ubaid, President of IMC-USA, noted that many people of Indian origin were preparing to attend the landmark event. He added that the Indian Diaspora has been galvanized by the news reports that Hindutva extremists are planning to repeat the 2002 Gujarat pogroms in the Indian state of Rajasthan, as revealed by a high ranking advisory committee to the Prime Minister of India, and also that their leader, Narendra Modi, may reapply for a US visa.
Ramier Shaik, a prominent member of the convention committee has unveiled an impressive array of speakers:
Keynote Speaker:
Congressman John Conyers from Michigan
Other Speakers:
Munaf Zeena, Chairman of Council of Indian Muslims (UK)
Fr. Cedric Prakash, Jesuit Priest and Director of Prashant
Prof. Jawahar Nesan, renowned Dalit leader and social activist
Ubaidur Rahman, Global Media Publications, India
Dr. Rahul Deepankar, Buddhist leader
T. Kumar, Asia Advocacy Director, Amnesty International
Asim Ghafoor, Attorney and Washington Lobbyist
Shrikumar Poddar, distinguished Hindu scholar
Kannan Srinivasan, renowned Historian and Journalist
Dr. Omar Khalidi, Indian Muslim Historian and scholar at MIT
Dr. Biju Mathew, Coalition to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH)
Raju Rajagopal, Promise of India (POI)
John Prabhudoss, Executive Director of Policy Institute for Religion
and State (PIFRAS)
Dr. Shaik Ubaid, President of IMC-USA
Steve Spritzer, Interfaith Program Coordinator for National Conference
for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Michigan
Dr. Sania Zainuddin, community activist
Dr. Lise McKean, Deputy Director of Center for Impact Research (CIR)
Kulmeet Singh, Sikh Coalition
The IMC-USA convention has become an annual tradition for scholars, activists and others concerned about the brutal siege of India’s pluralist and democratic ethos by the Hindutva ultra-nationalists. The annual convention is a platform for social activists and members of the Indian Diaspora to share ideas on issues of concern including political and economic corruption, the continuing persecution of Dalits and the marginalized lower castes in India.
Eminent personalities will be addressing the delegates during the day long sessions and the evening banquet. In addition, they will hold consultative meetings with participants on topics related to strengthening India’s secular democracy and promoting social justice and economic prosperity.
The scheduled sessions will deal with coalition building for protection of Human Rights in India, networking for Muslim NGOs and Business initiatives by Muslims in India, among many others.
M. A. Khan, President of IMC-USA Greater Washington D.C. chapter and member of the convention program committee, elaborated on the achievements of the previous conventions stating, "The IMC-USA annual convention held last year, was a huge success in terms of bringing together for the first time several different groups and communities that constitute India’s impressive diversity, and enabling them to work together to protect India’s pluralist ethos". He further added, "This led to the formation of the Coalition to Build Better India (CBBI). This coalition in turn became the launching pad for the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) which successfully thwarted the US visit of Narendra Modi, a pogrom politician. Narendra Modi is the architect-in-chief of the 2002 Gujarat pogroms.
For more information and to register, delegates and journalists are requested to visit:
http://www.imc-usa.org/convention/2005/
For Tickets and Registration:
Phone: 800-839-7270
Email: michigan@imc-usa.org
IMC-USA
265 Sunrise Highway
Suite 1-355
Rockville Center, NY 11570
Tel: (516) 567-0783
Contact
Asim Khan
800-839-7270 / 516-567-0783
