Indian American community rushes to register for PM Modi’s event in September

- ADVERTISEMENT -

More than 25,000 Indian Americans have responded to a call for registration for passes to a Community Reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, September 22, 2024 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Organized by the Indo American Community of USA, a broad group of US-based ‘Welcome Partner Organizations ‘and hundreds of local volunteers, the event is already exciting a lot of emotions among Indian Americans, according to organizers.

560 organizations from 42 states across the U.S. have signed up with the Indo American Community of USA (IACU) to send in their members to the reception. Of these 300 are from the New York and New Jersey area, said Dr. Avinash Gupta, president of Tristate Federation of Indian Associations to News India Times in a telephone interview.

Organizing this huge event has taken a lot of pre-planning, Gupta said. Each organization has been given an individual code and the registration requires email address of each person and their phone number. Gupta said it is going to be a thorough process of checking the confirmations of persons really attending after which they will be given the passes.

They will have to go through a security check at the entrance where they will have to present an Id. It will be a requirement for their names to match with the registration names, Gupta added. Each person will be assigned a seat at the gate. He said the Coliseum has 13,500 capacity whereas the registration is almost double that capacity as of August 29, 2024.

A 90-minute cultural program showcasing the diversity of India is also planned for the morning, before Modi’s arrival. Gupta said he had attended the 2014 reception at the Madison Square Garden. “It was overwhelming. Many local elected officials attended it. There was a lot of excitement,” Gupta said. Community members who have attended the 2014 reception said it was an event of a lifetime.

He also remembered the 2019 ‘Howdy Modi’ reception which was attended by current Presidential candidate Donald Trump. “That time, the community response included so much pride,” Gupta said. He said this year, due to the elections being round the corner, none of the candidates can come to the event.

The theme of this year’s reception is ‘Vasudhaiwa Kutumbakam” meaning the whole earth is one dwelling for all, and is highlighted by a quote of Modi – “We are committed to furthering not just our wellbeing, but that of the world’s. Our civilizational heritage of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ calls upon us to build a better world together because we are one earth, one family, one future.”

The Indo American Community of USA (IACU), an east coast chapter of Indo American Community of West Coast, aims to promote understanding of and unity within the Indo-American community through cultural events and public programs. A 501 ( c) non profit, it also conducts educational and health programs in India and around the world and is the sponsor of the September 22, 2024 reception.

There is unconfirmed news of Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi visiting the U.S, particularly New York and Washington, D.C., in the second week of September, before the reception and before Modi’s address at the United Nations General Assembly. “It will be interesting to see,” said Gupta.