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Asian American Village News

By The Associated Press

Chicago South Asians react to Mumbai attacks

Nov 28 21:05

By RUPA SHENOY

Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago's Devon Avenue resembles an Indian city street, with most Hindu cafes and groceries clustered in one section and Muslim restaurants and markets in another. But on Friday, people in both sections said they hoped the terrorist attacks in India wouldn't increase tensions between the two faiths.

More than 150 people have been killed in Mumbai in violence that began when gunmen attacked 10 sites Wednesday night. An extremist Muslim group has claimed credit, and Indian officials have said that "elements in Pakistan" were involved. The two nuclear-armed countries have a long history of strife.

Prasanna Turaka, a Catholic doctor from the central Indian city of Hyderabad, said he had Muslim and Hindu colleagues at the University of Illinois-Chicago's neonatal center who called for days before reaching all their family to make sure they're OK.

"It doesn't even make a difference. We are from all different religions, but everyone is fine; nobody is blaming, saying 'this is because of you,"' he said as he ate lunch in a Pakistani buffet on Devon. "We just need to wait until things settle down and come back to the normal state."

Together, the Hindu and Muslim parts of Devon make up one of North America's largest south Asian commercial districts. Down the length of the street, immigrants gathered in front of large-screen televisions to watch news of the attacks.

The Indian news program in front of Turaka flashed the words "INDIA'S 9/11." Turaka said he had visited many of the places targeted by the terrorists in Mumbai. A friend of his left the Taj Mahal Hotel the day before the siege began, he said.

"It seems like it could happen anytime. It could have been me, and it's scary," he said. "I don't know how long it will take for people to feel comfortable again."

A few doors down, book store owner Mahesh Sharma, a 50-year-old Hindu from New Delhi, said he called a supplier in Mumbai Thursday to make sure he'd get his usual shipment. He said he was worried that the attacks would hurt India's economy. But he didn't think tensions would increase between Hindus and Muslims.

"It may come to their mind, but it won't create any tension," Sharma said. "People are used to living together."

At another restaurant, 28-year-old Pakistani immigrant Sheikh Aftab said he hoped that was true.

"If Muslims did it, then that's wrong. Islam doesn't teach this. Islam doesn't teach violence. And whatever the media is portraying about Islam, that's totally wrong," said Aftab, who is Muslim. "Whatever happens in the world right now, it comes down on Muslims. Islam doesn't need this."

The DePaul University telecommunications major said he hoped President-elect Barack Obama would bring peace by changing U.S. policies that allow extremist Islamists to portray Americans as heavy-handed bullies.

But, "if he's like (President George) Bush, then you will see more of this thing," Aftab said.

AP-CS-11-28-08 2111EST

Indian Americans in Vermont undaunted

Nov 30 10:47

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) -- An Essex Junction resident was visiting her native India and eating in a Mumbai restaurant when she says there were loud bangs and everyone left the restaurant.

Mitali Asher says despite this past week's terrorist attack on India's commercial and cultural capital, she plans to continue her monthlong visit to attend a wedding and see family. Her husband said from Essex Junction he plans to join her.

Several members of Vermont's small Indian community say they were shocked by the news of the attack in Mumbai, but they expect the city and the country will weather the events.

Another Essex Junction resident, Bushan Shirolkar, says he, too, plans to go ahead with plans to travel to Mumbai this winter.

AP-ES-11-30-08 1053EST

DC-area residents wonder how South Asia will cope

Nov 29 16:26

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai have left many South Asian residents in the Washington area wondering how their native region will cope.

The coordinated assaults left nearly 200 people dead, including six Americans, and raised tensions between India and neighboring Pakistan, two nuclear-armed rivals.

Dozens of people gathered Friday at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham to pray and express condolences and solidarity.

"Let everyone be friends with everyone ... let there be no animosity ... let everyone be happy and prosperous," said Shreekanta Nayak, president of the National Council of Asian Indian Associations, to the group at the Hindu temple.

But with Indian government officials suggesting Pakistan-based groups were responsible for the attacks, some people were afraid the latest tensions could sour relations between the two countries.

"Strides were taking place. There was talk of an end to a possibility of a nuclear attack and creating a visa-free border in India. This kind of talk could derail all of that progress," said Rashid Makhdoom, a Pakistan native who lives in North Potomac and author of "Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army and the Wars Within."

Sanjay Puri of Herndon heads the U.S.-India Political Action Committee. He said he had to cancel a trip by a group of Virginia school superintendents to Mumbai next week. They had planned to observe how schools operate in India.

Puri's committee hopes to have a briefing next week with members of Congress and President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

"This is like Sept. 11," Puri said. "People came into the country and launched an act of war. It will now be up to India to respond."

------

Information from: The Washington Post,

http://www.washingtonpost.com

AP-ES-11-29-08 1632EST

VA Indian Americans say prayers for victims

Nov 27 16:18

SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) -- Indian-Americans in the Washington area are closely following news of the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai and trying to reach family members.

The Durga Temple, a large Hindu temple in northern Virginia, was open for prayers on Thanksgiving Day, though no special services were immediately planned. Officials say they will likely have services as members return home from holiday travel.

Kusum Taneja says she visited the temple Wednesday evening and talked with other members about why India was being struck with terrorism. She says they said a prayer for the victims "and for India herself."

Taneja, who has lived in the United States for 27 years, says she tried calling her parents and family in India's Punjab region Thursday morning but couldn't get through. She says she'll try again Thursday night.

AP-ES-11-27-08 1624EST

GA Indian Americans track down loved ones in Mumbai

Nov 27 23:12

By DORIE TURNER

Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) -- Indian-Americans and others across America with connections to Mumbai were frantically trying to get in touch with loved ones and colleagues Thursday. As they watched the scenes from Mumbai play out, Americans sent worried phone calls and e-mails to scores of friends and family.

Angela Mulchandami was relieved to see her mother made it aboard a flight from Mumbai to Atlanta Thursday morning.

A day earlier, Mumbai was the scene of a highly coordinated terrorist attack that had killed at least 119 people at 10 sites, including several luxury hotels.

"It's hard not knowing how all of your loved ones are, especially when you are seeing it on TV," said the 25-year-old Mulchandami as she waited at the airport. "I didn't know if she had made the flight."

Several Americans were among the injured. Andi Varagona of Nashville, Tennessee, called her mother, Celeste Varagona, from a hospital Thursday and said she had been shot in the arm and leg while eating dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel. Another Tennessee woman traveling with her was also injured, but her name was not immediately available, Celeste Varagona told The Associated Press.

A father and daughter from Virginia also were missing after being caught in an attack, said a spokeswoman for the spiritual group they were traveling with. Neither Alan Scherr, 58, nor his daughter Naomi Scherr, 13, had turned up by Thursday night, said Bobbie Garvey, spokeswoman for the Synchronicity Foundation. Both live and work at the group's headquarters in Faber, Virginia.

The other 23 members of the group who were traveling with the Scherrs have been accounted for, Garvey said. The group's Web site said two members from the U.S. and two from Canada were shot and wounded, but are believed to be in stable condition. Their names were not immediately available.

State Department spokesman Robert McInturff said Thursday at least three Americans were injured in the attacks, but said he could not identify them.

The motive for the violence was unclear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2007 that killed 187 people.

Karan Maheshwari, 25, also arrived in Atlanta from Mumbai Thursday morning. His mother called him before he took off to say that his high school biology teacher had been shot to death and two family friends were being held captive at the Taj Mahal hotel.

"They are just killing innocent people," said Maheshwari, who works for the McKinsey & Company consulting firm across the street from the Oberoi Hotel, which was also attacked.

Sumita Batra, 39, who owns a chain of Indian-influenced beauty salons in Southern California, said she has two close friends who are in Mumbai for the holiday season. After several hours of trying Thursday, she finally reached one who was traveling with her 3-year-old son.

"It's so weird because they keep showing the same thing over and over again. I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm hoping that I can hear that it's over," said Batra, who lives in Artesia, a southern Los Angeles County city that's home to the region's Little India.

Viren K. Bhandari said he checked out of the Oberoi hotel about three hours before the attacks began. He said he would have normally not left the hotel so early, but had a business meeting before he had to be at the airport.

"I could have been just outside when it all started," the Atlanta resident said as he waited for his baggage at the city's airport.

Indian-American and Hindu communities across the U.S. were trying to understand the rash violence in India's financial capital. There are about 2.5 million people of Indian descent in the United States, according to census estimates.

Some tried to find solace in prayer. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined worshippers at the Hindu Temple Society of North America in the borough of Queens for a service to honor the dead and injured.

"As New Yorkers, we know the toll that terrorism takes all too well," Bloomberg said.

The Durga Temple, a large Hindu temple in northern Virginia, was open for prayers on Thanksgiving Day, though no special services were planned until members return from holiday travel.

In Irving, Texas, Rajyam Rao went to the D/FW Hindu Temple Society "to say a little prayer," she said. She was born in Mumbai and used to work across from the Taj Mahal hotel.

"It is shocking, saddening," Rao said. "Right now the world economy is so bad, and you'd think that's where the people's focus would be. Instead it's the terrorist attacks, the bombings. This is really shocking."

------

Associated Press writers Juanita Cousins in Nashville, Tennessee, Walter Putnam in Atlanta, Deepti Hajela in New York, Jeff Carlton in Dallas and Gillian Flaccus in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

AP-CS-11-27-08 2318EST

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