Benefiting the Victims

Bay Area South Asian artists pay tribute and raise some $50,000

By Avy Mallik
Special to AsianWeek

On July 13, more than 200 Bay Area residents paid tribute to the life of Ahsan Jaffri, a former member of India’s parliament, by participating in a fundraiser to benefit victims of the Gujarat riots. Held in San Francisco’s Mission Cultural Center, the event included the screening of Gopal Menon’s Hey Ram: Genocide in the land of Gandhi, speeches by Jaffri’s daughter and son-in-law and performances by local artists.

The performances, varying from classical Indian dance sequences to contemporary hip hop, represented all aspects of the Indian American identity. The tribute was just one of many that are being organized by different South Asian American groups in the United States. The money raised from the benefit will go directly toward the victims of the Gujarat riots.

One can never be prepared to view Hey Ram, a 24-minute documentary depicting — in all its unrelenting horror — the events of the Gujarat riots. Its powerful message carried over to the next segment of the fundraiser: speeches by Nishrin and Najid Hussain, the daughter and son-in-law of Jaffri. Jaffri, along with 150 other Muslims who had sought refuge at his house, was attacked and burned alive by a mob in late February. “All of you, by just being here, makes me believe that all hope is not lost,” said an emotional Nishrin, “Something good must come out of this… we have to do something.”

Najid Hussain, son-in-law of the late Ahsan Jaffri, in his speech for communal harmony.

There were many highlights by local artists. All of them incorporated the Gujarat riots into their performances. Riffat Salamat, a classically trained Pakistani/Indian singer, entertained the diverse audience with a refreshingly upbeat performance. Accompanied with tablas and an acoustic guitar (an unlikely pairing of instruments that ended up working beautifully), Salamat sang both folk melodies and more recognizable songs. Her rendition of a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan tune was particularly popular, with almost everybody clapping along.

In direct contrast to Salamat’s traditional stylings, the music of Karmacy, an up-and-coming hip hop quartet, struck a chord as well. The majority of Karmacy’s songs dwelt on issues that this ‘displaced’ generation could identify with. In the song “Blood Brothers,” two Gujarati siblings converse back-and-forth as one tries to make it in America while the other remains in India. In between Karmacy’s songs (almost all of them were in more than one language, some even containing up to five different ones), they spoke about the increasingly hostile world climate: “There is no excuse for hate in this world anymore,” said one member, “We must look over the horizon and transcend all the differences that have held us back for so long.”

Dance was another median of art that was showcased on Saturday. Parijat Desai, a contemporary choreographer and dancer, amazed the audience with her astounding flexibility and deft movement. Drawing from modern dance, yoga and classical Indian styles, Desai integrated her style with new-age music. A speech written by a Buddhist monk and peace activist named Thich Nhat Hanh was passionately read aloud during her performance: “Promise me, even as they strike you down with a mountain of hate and violence… even as they crush and disembowel you, remember, brother, man is not our enemy. The only thing worthy of you is compassion, invincible and limitless.”

The event was organized jointly by EKTA and the Coalition Against Communalism (CAC). A fundraiser took place the following night at the Jain Center of Northern California in Milipitas, also organized by EKTA and CAC. Together, these two benefits raised their target goal of $25,000. An offer to match the amount has brought up the grand total to $50,000.

For more information about the Gujarat riots and what you can do to help the victims, please visit ektaonline.org.