Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA)

Journal of Asian American Studies
"So our history doesn't become your future: The local and global politics of coalition building post September 11th"
October 2002
by Nadine C. Naber

Excerpt

In the San Francisco Bay Area, members of the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) explained that, in the process of becoming more visibly racialized, South Asian communities witnessed similar inner-communal shifts and polarizations. Along with the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, San Francisco Chapter (ADC SF), Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Intergroup Clearinghouse (IC), and the Islamic Networks Group (ING), ASATA joined the coalition,"United Response Collaborative. The United Response Collaborative came together to provide assistance to community groups and individuals negatively affected by the backlash following the attacks of 9-11. This coalition focused particularly on working with Arab, Muslim, and South Asian groups to increase community capacity and identify appropriate strategies for preventing and addressing bias-motivated violence and discrimination." [22] For South Asian activists, multi-racial coalitions have served as key sites for addressing anti-South Asian racism and forging new links with Arab, Muslim, and other organizations committed to racial justice. Multi-racial coalitions additionally opened up new spaces for confronting antiMuslim sentiments within and between South Asian communities. [23] While South Asian activism since 9-11 has increased the visibility of South Asians within the organizing spaces for racial justice, it has also entailed confronting divisions within and between South Asian communities. For example, since 9-11, South Asian activism has brought heightened attention to the role of U.S.-based right-wing Hindu fundamentalist community groups, who lend financial support to anti-Muslim projects, such as mosque demolitions, in India.

AsianWeek
"South Asian Community Condemns Sexual Assault"
September 18, 2002
by Ji Hyun Lim

South Asian community organizations gathered at a press conference Sept. 4 in front of a Longs Drugstore in Palo Alto, Calif., to voice sympathy for a 15-year-old Muslim girl who was raped by Sanjay Nair, a 19-year old Hindu man who allegedly followed the victim to the basement bathroom of the store where they both work and sexually assaulted her.

News India-Times
"Hindus, Muslims of South Asian descent hold press briefing to condemn alleged rape of minor Muslim girl"
September 13, 2002
by Ela Dutt
http://www.newsindia-times.com/2002/09/13/dias32-top.html

Hindus, Muslims of South Asian descent hold press briefing to condemn alleged rape of minor Muslim girl

Sanjay Nair, an 18-year-old from East Palo Alto, has been arrested and charged with assault with intent to rape a 15-year-old girl at a drugstore on Aug. 30.

AsianWeek “Bay Area South Asians Discuss Communal Violence in Gujarat” June 28, 2002 by Avy Mallik http://www.asianweek.com/20020628/bay_gujurat.html

In a continued effort to raise awareness about the communal violence in Gujarat, India, Bay Area South Asian American groups organized a screening of Indian filmmaker Gopal Menon’s documentary Hey Ram: Genocide in the Land of Gandhi (the title comes from the last words spoken by Mahatma Gandhi moments before his death), which vividly shows the Muslim genocide in Gujarat in all its uncensored brutality. Held on June 22 at the Artists’ Television Access in San Francisco, the film was preceded by a panel discussion led by Surina Khan, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and Raka Ray, professor of sociology and South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. Organizers included EKTA, CAC (Coalition Against Communalism), Narika, Third I, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action and Trikone.

India-West
"Activists Condemn Gujarat Violence, Screen New Documentary"
June 28, 2002
by Rupal Shah

For over a year Gujarat has been in the international spotlight; first because of the devastating earthquake, then for the recent religious violence that has shaken the state and shocked the entire nation.

In a small room at Artist's Television Access here, a large group of activists gathered June 22 to discuss the reality and motivations behind what many call "the systematic slaughter of thousands," to watch a documentary on the carnage entitled "Hey Ram! Genocide in the Land of Gandhi," by Gopal Menon, and to raise funds for the victims of sectarian violence in Gujarat.

India-West
"Local Activists Call for Indo-Pak Peace"
June 21, 2002
by Rupal Shah

In light of recent increased tensions between India and Pakistan and the threat of nuclear war, several Bay Area Indian and Pakistani, as well as other, social activist groups gathered at the UN Plaza at noon on June 10 in a call for peace.

Groups such as Global Exchange, Alliance for South Asian Taking Action, EKTA, Friends of South Asia, and the Western States Legal Foundation came together to denounce all war, especially nuclear war, between the countries. They also want to send a message to both governments that ordinary people want peace and an open and constructive dialogue between both nations.

AsianWeek
"Local South Asian Groups Continue to Rally for Peace"
June 14, 2002
by Ji Hyun Lim
http://www.asianweek.com/2002_06_14/bay_asata.html

In response to the renewed threats of nuclear war that have erupted in South Asia in past weeks, grassroots Bay Area organizations such as the Kashmir Foundation, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) and Global Exchange gathered at the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco Monday, June 10.

AsianWeek
"Local South Asian Groups Continue to Rally for Peace"
June 14 - June 20, 2002
by Ji Hyun Lim
http://www.asianweek.com/2002_06_14/bay_asata.html

In response to the renewed threats of nuclear war that have erupted in South Asia in past weeks, grassroots Bay Area organizations such as the Kashmir Foundation, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) and Global Exchange gathered at the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco Monday, June 10.

Jinn
"Distant Tragedy Unifies Indian Americans"
February 7, 2001
by Raj Jayadev
http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/6.29/010207-distant.html

The Indian community in the United States divides along established lines of religion and class, but also very sharply between generations. But all these rifts disappeared as members of each group realized, in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake in their homeland, that they shared a strong common bond. PNS contributor Raj Jayadev is the Silicon Valley editor for YO! Youth Outlook, a publication by and about Bay Area youth published by Pacific News Service.