AIA to celebrate 50 years of service to Indian American community on December 1

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The Association of Indians in America (AIA) will be celebrating their 50^th anniversary with pomp at the Garden City Hotel in Garden City, Long Island on Saturday, December 1.

“The Association of Indians in America is the oldest grass root Indian Organization in United States of America, which was established in 1967 to help the newly arrived Indian immigrants assimilate and settle in their new adopted homeland,” Banquet Chairman Ravishankar Bhooplapur and Chair of Media Smiti Khanna, are quoted saying in a press release.

According to a press release, the AIA was instrumental in the resettlement of Indians who were fleeing from Uganda to escape the tyranny of Idi Amin.

Since then, AIA has been a pioneer in serving the causes of the Indians in America addressing issues related to professional licensing, immigration, racial and professional discrimination, civil rights, the glass ceiling and many more.

In the past 50 years, many people of prominence have had the opportunity to be honored by the organization and speak at their annual events.

These include noble laureates such as S. Chandrasekhar in 1973, Norman E. Borlaug in 1976, Lawrence R. Klein in 1981, Peace Corps of America in 1991 and Amartya Sen in 1994;  leading artists Ravi Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Amjad Ali Khan, Zubin Mehta, Ali Akbar Khan and Yehudi Menuhin; and globally acclaimed academicians Professor Jagdish Bhagwati, Margaret Meade, Professor T. N. Srinivasan, Professor Robert A. F. Thurman, just to name a few.

The most popular event that is held by AIA and was started in 1987 is their annual Diwali Celebration at South Street Seaport in New York City.