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Friends of South Asia (FOSA) is a California, United States based social and political activist organization. Founded jointly in 2001 by Americans of Pakistani and Indian origins, the group describes its mission as "achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia...work ngthrough people-to-people contacts, dialog, and other non-violent, non-exclusionary means." FOSA activism has touched upon issues inside South Asia, as well as outside South Asia such as those relating to Israel and United States policy in Cuba and Venezuela among others.Boycott Israel? Amitav Ghosh & the Dan David Prize
Pulse Media, May 9, 2010

January 16, 2011


History

FOSA was founded in December 2001 by a group of nine Pakistani Americans and
Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
s, concerned that "the place we call home was full of war cries and that South Asia was on the brink of a war." Members organized candlelight vigils and letter-writing campaigns for peace, initially in collaboration with groups like the
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
Qaumantri Punjabi Bhaichara (Punjabi International Friendship) Group of California. The local vigils grew out of a series of vigils for peace in South Asia held simultaneously in 18 cities around the world. FOSA registered as a tax-exempt non-profit charitable entity in Arts, Culture and Humanities category with United States
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
(IRS). Its non-profit status remains revoked by the IRS, as of November 2013, because FOSA has failed to file required annual reports and certifications under United States laws for three consecutive years. FOSA has an informal organizational structure, and a number of members have served as spokespeople. Group members have often collaborated with or co-sponsored events with other
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
South Asian American anti- communal organizations like EKTA and the Coalition against Communalism.


Positions and activities

Friends of South Asia was described by ''
Metro Santa Cruz ''Metro Santa Cruz'', a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California from 1994 to 2009, was renamed the ''Santa Cruz Weekly'' on May 6, 2009. The weekly continues, under its new name, to cover news, arts and entertainment ...
'' in April 2006 as "a hodgepodge of mostly secular-leaning South Asian Hindus and Muslims—university students, Silicon Valley engineers moonlighting as activists, etc.—who regularly organize local vigils, poetry readings, films and speaker events relating to South Asian issues." Between 2008 and 2013, FOSA activities have included a variety of issues inside and outside South Asia.


Activism on issues in India and Pakistan

Friends of South Asia has been involved with several campaigns inside India and Pakistan, including opposition the 2002 Godhra riots, Pakistani military actions in
Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...
, and the 2006 bombings in Varanasi, India, as well as support for victims of the
Bhopal disaster The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...
, advocacy for the civil rights of immigrants to the United States, support for the
Right to Information The Right to Information (RTI) is an act of the Parliament of India which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens' right to information. It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Under the provisions of RTI Act, an ...
movement, and the proposed expansion of reservations (quota-based affirmative action) in higher education for members of Indian castes defined as
Other Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
es. FOSA has also specifically focused on highlighting art and activism linked to social change movements in Pakistan, including issues like peace with India, ending the Indo-Pak nuclear race, opposition to censorship and ending religious intolerance against the
Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
Muslim minority who have been victims of pogroms in Pakistan.


Bangladesh garment worker rights

Friends of South Asia organized and participated in protests against
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and Gap for buying clothes in Bangladesh. They claimed it is always a race to the bottom in garment industry: they give the contract to whoever produces the goods most cheaply, that vendors will be certain to take out their share, leaving very little for wages and improving workplace safety.


Campaign against FDI, for agrarian livelihood rights in India

Friends of South Asia has actively participated in a campaign to block foreign direct investment projects in India, and in support of traditional way of life and agrarian livelihoods. For example, activists of FOSA participated and co-authored a report on
POSCO India POSCO India Private Limited (commonly POSCO India or Posco-India) is an Indian subsidiary of Korean conglomerate POSCO. Its parent company POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2005 with the state government of Odisha to construct a ...
, by forming a so-called Mining Zone Peoples’ Solidarity Group. This activism targeted to stop the $12 billion foreign direct investment by the South Korean company in the Indian state of
Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...
. The co-authors of this report included others such as
Biju Mathew Biju Mathew is a New York-based Marxist activist-intellectual. An immigrant from India, he teaches Information Systems and American studies at Rider University (New Jersey). A veteran labor organizer, he co-founded the New York Taxi Workers Allia ...
and Balmurli Natrajan. In 2011, FOSA independently, as well as the front organization Mining Zone Peoples’ Solidarity Group, co-signed and submitted a letter to the Prime Minister of India asking that the POSCO project be cancelled.


California Hindu textbook controversy

Friends of South Asia was a prominent participant in the
Californian Hindu textbook controversy A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of Hinduism in history textbooks began in 2005. The Texas-based Vedic Foundation (VF) and the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF), complained to California's Curriculum Commission ...
, in which it joined a number of other groups in petitioning
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's Curriculum Commission to reject allegedly revisionist edits to California's textbook curriculum on Hinduism and India, as suggested by two American Hindu organizations. In 2006, during the textbook controversy, then-graduate student Anupama Mandavilli was a primary spokesperson.


Condemnation of Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal

The group advocates against what they term "militarism in India, Pakistan, and the United States." According to a 2006 statement, "We express our deepest disappointment with the recently concluded visit of George Bush to India and Pakistan, and unequivocally condemn the Indo-US nuke deal...The United States' imperial designs in its war on Afghanistan and Iraq and the submission of the Indian and Pakistani governments to go along, is not lost on their people who came out in thousands in both countries to protest against Bush and his agenda."


Condemnation of Israel

Friends of South Asia endorsed and sponsored speeches and signed letters denouncing Israel as a colonial occupier of Palestine. In 2010, it criticized novelist
Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
for accepting the
Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...
from the President of Israel. In 2011, it endorsed a letter declaring Israel as a colonial occupier of Palestine.


Condemnation of United States policy in Cuba and Venezuela

Friends of South Asia has endorsed letters, protests and rally calling United States' policy in Venezuela and Cuba as hostile, the current governments in Venezuela and Cuba as progressive.


Literary events

The group holds an annual literary event in August, celebrating the
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
and Pakistani Independence days with readings in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, and English. Topics have included "South Asian Writings on War and Terrorism," "Revisiting Changing Homelands," and "The Language of Food."


Criticism


Corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto

Former Pakistani Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...
spoke at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in October 2001. According to the ''Stanford Report'', "a handful of protesters who called themselves 'concerned Pakistani students' and 'friends of South Asia' held signs promoting peace and passed out fliers detailing corruption charges against Bhutto -- charges she disputed during her talk."


Cosponsorship of event with PAA

On May 15, 2005, FOSA organized a San Francisco march for peace in support of the 2005 India-Pakistan peace march, with the help of seven local co-sponsors, including the Pakistan American Alliance (PAA). About a week after the event, an anonymous online critic of the Association for India's Development pointed out that the Pakistan American Alliance's website included an image of a man holding a placard reading "Allah will destroy the terrorist state of India" at an October 2004 rally in New York City co-organized by the New York chapter of PAA. FOSA responded by deleting references to the Pakistan American Alliance from their website, and issuing an update stating that they were disturbed by the photo and had been unaware of PAA's politics, which were contrary to their own.


Ties to Communist Party of India

In 2006, Mihir Meghani, president of the
Hindu American Foundation The Hindu American Foundation ( ) is an American Hindu advocacy group founded in 2003. The organisation has its roots in the Hindu nationalist organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad America and its student wing Hindu Students Council. Scholars ar ...
, itself strongly linked to the
Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
, was quoted in
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
newspaper ''
Metroactive ''Metro'' is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', as well as ''Metroactive'' online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to prin ...
'' saying that "It's pretty well known that they're OSAtied with the Communist Party in India...It's really a ploy to break down and dissemble icHinduism." In 2006, ''
The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the U ...
'' had to retract an article accusing FOSA of having communist ties, saying "FOSA does not have any ties to Communist or terrorist groups".


Controversy about speakers

Speakers hosted by Friends of South Asia have been the subject of controversy. ;Biju Mathew and Stanford University In 2006, FOSA invited Professor
Biju Mathew Biju Mathew is a New York-based Marxist activist-intellectual. An immigrant from India, he teaches Information Systems and American studies at Rider University (New Jersey). A veteran labor organizer, he co-founded the New York Taxi Workers Allia ...
(
Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...
) to speak at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
about labor organizing among New York City taxi drivers, globalization, and the anti-war movement. ''The Stanford Daily'' student newspaper ran an article critical of the planned event, based on an anonymous email claiming that there were simultaneous "Islamist and Communist sympathies within the organization." The anonymous correspondent also claimed that Mathew, a co-founder of the
Forum of Indian Leftists The Forum of Indian Leftists (FOIL), or the Forum of Inquilabi Leftists, is a group of left-wing activists of Indian background. The organization describes itself as "a clearinghouse for radical Indian activists in the United States, Canada and Eng ...
(later renamed the Forum of ''Inquilabi''
evolutionary Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
Leftists to be inclusive of non-Indian members), supported the
Unabomber Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...
and other terrorist groups. The article received significant public criticism, and the ''Stanford Daily'' retracted the story. and printed apologies in the two subsequent issues, concluding that "FOSA does not have any ties to Communist or terrorist groups...We also apologize to Prof. Biju Mathew for associating him in any way with the Unabomber and other extremist elements." ;Ghulam Nabi Fai and Kashmiri American Council In 2003, FOSA invited and organized a forum speech that included
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, is an American citizen of Kashmiri origin, and a Jamaat-e-Islami activist. He founded the organisation Kashmiri American Council in the United States and carried out lobbying on behalf of Kashmiri separatist groups and t ...
of Kashmiri American Council. Fai was arrested by United States' FBI in July 2011. According to U.S. court documents, Fai served as the director of the Kashmiri American Council, an NGO that held itself out to be run by Kashmiris, financed by Americans, and dedicated to raising the level of knowledge in the United States about the struggle of the Kashmiri people for self-determination. Contrary to public representations, Fai's Kashmiri American Council was secretly funded with millions of dollars by officials employed by the government of Pakistan, including the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), for several decades. Fai pleaded guilty in December 2011, and was sentenced to prison in 2012, for the crime of conspiracy to defraud the US by concealing transfer of funding from Government of Pakistan for his illegal lobbying efforts on Kashmir. There is no evidence that FOSA knew of Fai's Pakistan government's funding and connection, when it invited him as a key speaker in 2003.


Allegations of subversion

According to a 2007 article by Indian pilot and animal welfare activist
V. Sundaram Captain V. Sundaram (April 22, 1916 – May 31, 1997) was an Indian aviator, pilot and animal welfare activist. He founded the Blue Cross of India, the largest animal welfare organization of Asia. Career as a pilot Captain V. Sundaram became a ...
, the book ''NGOs, Subversive Activists and Foreign Funds- Anti-Nation Industry'' contains articles describing how FOSA and eight other groups are allegedly engaged in "anti-national activities" directed toward India, which are collectively labeled "Instruments of Hate and Fratricide."


See also

*
Californian Hindu textbook controversy A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of Hinduism in history textbooks began in 2005. The Texas-based Vedic Foundation (VF) and the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF), complained to California's Curriculum Commission ...


References


External links


Friends of South Asia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Of South Asia 2001 establishments in the United States Anti–Iraq War groups Political advocacy groups in the United States South Asian American organizations Organizations established in 2001 Cultural organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area