Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA)

We’re heartbroken. Birjinder Anant died last week in Oakland.

We knew him as a builder of activist movements, teller of bad jokes, reader of good books, connector of communities, tapper of shoulders, and a good friend to so many of us.

Birjinder has been the heart and soul of ASATA since his first meeting on September 18, 2001. His strength, commitment, and humility were an inspiration to many, and he was a driving force behind much Asian American and South Asian American activist work in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. His loss has truly shaken us. We offer our deepest condolences to others who knew and loved Birjinder as we did.

We are trying to create a contact list of Birjinder’s close friends and collaborators. If you are among the many that are mourning Birjinder’s loss (and celebrating his life), please contact us. We will follow up with more details on public remembrance events as they become available.

ASATA’s coordinating committee

Update: ASATA, APICAW, Load Shedding, and Locus are holding a remembrance event for Birjinder in San Francisco on April 22, 2006.

Notes from friends and allies:

• Dipti Bhatnagar: “Birj, tujhe salaam”
• Raj Patel: “Stop All the Clocks”
• Illogic82: “For a comrade…” and “A moment in the life”
• Kavneet: “Birjinder Singh Anant — 1974-2005”
• Neelanjana Banerjee: “R.I.P. Birj” and “Leaving the nightmare world”
• Eric Mar & Kawal Ulanday “2005 - RIP…Brother BIRJ of ASATA…”
• Joy Liu “still at a loss for words, feelings, what to say, what to do…” and “On the real”
• Nha Hang Chay: “For my brother Birjinder”
• Eunice Cho & Monami Maulik: “In Memory: Birjinder Anant”
• Megha: hugging stories and a letter to Birj
• Leena: “For the first time ever, I’m hoping to get haunted”
• Bay Area WT-No! “In memory of Birjinder Anant, comrade in struggle who was with us in WTO Hong Kong”
• Dragonly: “Loss of words”
• Miwon: “Life and death”
• Soepa: “Bro, you find out there’s not enough time in this life for anything but love”
• Adrienne Carey Hurley: “In Memory of Birjinder Anant, 1974-2005”
• Lilcapital: A note for Birjinder
• Vomitingcookies: On Birj’s passing

You can also look at Birjinder Anant, Rest in Peace and Power, a collection of photos of Birjinder as we knew him.

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