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Friends of South Asia (FOSA, established 2001) is a volunteer South Asian American peace organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The group's stated basic mission is to "achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia...work through people-to-people contacts, dialog, and other non-violent, non-exclusionary means."

FOSA was founded in December 2001 by a group of nine Indian and Pakistani expatriates concerned about the threat of impending war between their two nations. Members organized candlelight vigils and letter-writing campaigns for peace, initially in collaboration with groups like the Sikh Qaumantri Punjabi Bhaichara (Punjabi International Friendship) Group of California. The local vigils, some attracting over 100 people, grew out of a series of vigils for peace in South Asia held simultaneously in 18 cities around the world.

The organization was described by Metro Santa Cruz in April 2006 as "a hodgepodge of mostly secular-leaning South Asian Hindus and Muslims—university students, Silicon Valley engineers moonlighting as activists, etc.—who regularly organize local vigils, poetry readings, films and speaker events relating to South Asian issues." The group has had a variety of spokespeople through its history; in 2006, Anupama Mandavilli, a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California, has been the primary press spokesperson.

As of 2006, Friends of South Asia continues to advocate against militarism in India, Pakistan, and the United States. FOSA has been involved with several other campaigns, including opposition to the Iraq War, the 2002 Godhra riots, Pakistani military actions in Balochistan, Pakistan, and the 2006 bombings in Varanasi, India, as well as support for victims of the Bhopal disaster, and advocacy for the civil rights of immigrants to the United States. FOSA has also specifically focused on highlighting art and activism linked to social change movements in Pakistan, including issues like peace with India, ending the Indo-Pak nuclear race, opposition to censorship and ending religious intolerance .

FOSA was a prominent participant in the Californian Hindu textbook controversy, in which it joined a number of other groups in successfully petitioning California's Curriculum Commission to reject allegedly revisionist edits to California's textbook curriculum on Hinduism and India, as suggested by two American Hindu organizations. (See main article Californian Hindu textbook controversy for details.)

Friends of South Asia has often co-sponsored events with other California South Asian anti-communal organizations like EKTA and the Coalition against Communalism.

Criticism

Friends of South Asia is frequently criticized by Hindu Indian and Indian-American nationalists, who allege that it is an anti-Hindu and leftist organization, and is a supporter of anti-Indian, Islamist and Communist causes. It has also been criticized by Pakistani nationalists for alleged bias toward Indian Hindus, and by the former Prime Minister of Pakistan.

  • Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto spoke at Stanford University in October 2001. According to the Stanford Report, "a handful of protesters who called themselves 'concerned Pakistani students' and 'friends of South Asia' held signs promoting peace and passed out fliers detailing corruption charges against Bhutto -- charges she disputed during her talk.".
  • On May 15, 2005, FOSA organized a San Francisco march for peace in support of the 2005 India-Pakistan peace march, with the help of seven local co-sponsors, including the Pakistan American Alliance (PAA). About a week after the event, an anonymous online critic pointed out that the Pakistan American Alliance's website included an image of a man holding a placard reading "Allah will destroy the terrorist state of India" at an October 2004 rally in New York City co-organized by the New York chapter of PAA. FOSA responded by deleting references to the Pakistan American Alliance from their website, and issuing an update stating that they were disturbed by the photo and had been unaware of PAA's politics, which were contrary to their own.
  • During the 2006 Californian Hindu textbook controversy, Hindu American Foundation president Mihir Meghani was quoted in Metroactive saying that "It's pretty well known that they're tied with the Communist Party in India...It's really a ploy to break down and dissemble Hinduism." Metroactive also reported on an anonymous death threat received by FOSA, in which the correspondent threatened to "slaughter" members, singling out those who "use Hindu names and backstab Hindus."
  • In April 2006, FOSA invited Professor Biju Mathew (Rider University) to speak at Stanford University about labor organizing among New York City taxi drivers, globalization, and the anti-war movement. The Stanford Daily student newspaper ran an article critical of the planned event, based on an anonymous email claiming that there were simultaneous "Islamist and Communist sympathies within the organization." The anonymous correspondent also claimed that Mathew, a co-founder of the Forum of Indian Leftists, supported the Unabomber and other terrorist groups. The article received significant public criticism , and the Stanford Daily swiftly retracted the story and printed apologies in the two subsequent issues, concluding that "FOSA does not have any ties to Communist or terrorist groups...We also apologize to Prof. Biju Mathew for associating him in any way with the Unabomber and other extremist elements."

References

  1. Ashfaque Swapan (October 14, 2005). "South Asian Community Rallies to Provide Earthquake Relief". India West. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ AH Cemendtaur (May 2003). "Learning the ropes of peace activism". Peace News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Friends of South Asia". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  4. Raj Jayadev (January 6, 2002). "Indian-Pakistani peace gathering". San Francisco Chronicle. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. Jonathan Curiel (March 15, 2002). "Far from Kashmir / South Asians find common ground in Bay Area". San Francisco Chronicle. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Suzanne Lee (February 1, 2002). "Bay Area South Asians Kick-off Monthly Global Peace Vigils". AsianWeek. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. Ryan Kim, Matthew B. Stannard and Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writers (June 2, 2002). "Kashmir tension watched closely by Bay relatives". San Francisco Chronicle. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "Friends Of South Asia & Qaumantri Punjabi Bhaichara". ACHA Peace Bulletin. February 6, 2002. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. Hina Wyne (June 14, 2002). "Friends of S. Asia Not Willing to Give up Hope". Pakistan Link. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "The Terrorists Are Here! Not!". Metro Santa Cruz. April 12, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. "After Letter, Prof Gets Hate E-mail". The Harvard Crimson. March 14, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Charles Burress (March 10, 2006). "Hindu groups lose fight to change textbooks / But decision by state Board of Education is supported by some Hindu Americans". San Francisco Chronicle. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. Jonathan Jones (April 26, 2006). "Hindu group's motion to block texts denied". Fremont Argus. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. "Bush's visit disappoints South Asian group". Daily Times. March 9, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. "About Coalition Against Genocide". Coalition Against Genocide. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  16. "Please Help Stop the Military Operation and Massacre in Balochistan". Friends of South Asia & The World Sindhi Institute. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  17. "Major Rally in Washington, D.C., to Call Attention to Atrocities in Balochistan Province of Pakistan". The World Sindhi Institute. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
  18. "20th Anniversary Film Screening & Discussion". Students for Bhopal. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  19. "Public Statement from South Asian Organizations Regarding Immigration Reform". South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  20. "Theatre Without Frontiers: Video clips and discussion with Pakistani Playwright Shahid Nadeem". Ekta. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  21. Ras H. Siddiqui (September 13, 2002). "Pakistan & India under the Nuclear Shadow". Pakistan Link. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. Ali Hasan Cemendtaur (January 5, 2005). "FOSA Celebrates Success of 'Suppressed Voices'". Pakistan Link. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. "Human Rights in South Asia: Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-04-24.
  24. Ali Hasan Cemendtaur (March 4, 2004). "Traveling Film South Asia 2004 Comes to San Francisco Bay Area". Pakistan Link. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Vrinda Normand (February 1, 2006). "Battling the Past: Indian parents and scholars go to war over how Hindu history is taught in California schools". Metroactive. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. "Speak Out Against the Hindutva Assault on California's History Textbooks". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  27. Syed Adeeb (January 5, 2004). "Indian-Hindu TV Channels Promote Hindu-India". PakNews.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Meredith Alexander (October 19, 2001). "Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, expresses support for war effort". Stanford Report. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. "Ind-Pak Peace Solidarity March in San Francisco". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  30. ""Allah will destroy the terrorist state of India"". AID (Association for India's Development) Documents Repository. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  31. ""PAA co-sponsors Kashmiris rally in New York"" (PDF). AID (Association for India's Development) Documents Repository. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  32. "PAA co-sponsors Kashmiris rally in New York". Pakistan American Alliance. Retrieved 2006-04-25.
  33. "Statement of Clarification by the Friends of South Asia, on Pakistan American Alliance's co-sponsorship". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  34. "Biju Mathew in the San Francisco Bay Area". Friends of South Asia (FOSA). Retrieved 2006-05-12.
  35. "Taxi! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City". The New Press. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
  36. Patrick Leahy (April 7, 2006). "Leftist speaker sparks debate". Stanford Daily. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. "Letters to the editor". Stanford Daily. April 11, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. "Letters to the editor". Stanford Daily. April 12, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. "Letters to the editor". Stanford Daily. April 10, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. "Retractions & Corrections". Stanford Daily. April 11, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. "Apology". Stanford Daily. April 10, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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