of the world - Dr Jha
By William Doyle-Marshall
"When people of Indian origin are treated with great respect in their adopted land, so goes the respect for India." This profound message was echoed to celebrants of South Asian Heritage Month at the Vedic Cultural Centre of Markham last Saturday.
Keynote speaker Dr. Aditya Jha, celebrated Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, philantropist and social activist in Canadian public affairs, traced the history of India's economic influence on the world and the impact of persons of Indian heritage in the Diaspora on the Motherland.
The presence of successful and influential Indian Diaspora in so many countries have become a source of direct support for India as the influence, not just the popular attitude but also the government policies go to the benefit of the Mother country, India, Dr. Jha reported. He observed that with the phenomenal success of global Indian entrepreneurs and innovators, India is benefitting tremendously through the luring of large multinational companies for the Indian footprint as well as the entrepreneurial ventures in the country.
Dr. Jha disclosed the 30 million large Indian Diaspora is a highly contributing group to the nations around the world. Those of Indian heritage have increasingly taken up important mainstream roles and responsibilities in their adopted countries such as the President of Singapore; Chief Justice and Governor General of New Zealand; two Governors of the United States of America; Prime Ministers of Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago; a former Premier of British Columbia and federal minister as well as other world renowned personalities.
"We cannot underestimate the importance of such global respect in our increasingly globalized world," Jha continued.
Speaking around the celebration's theme "India in Canada" Dr. Jha observed in the public lexicon people are qualifying India as an emerging power but indeed the world is witnessing the country's re-emergence on the world stage.
"Before 18th century or prior to its political subjugation by the imperialist powers, India was a dominant player in the world economy. At their peak India and China together accounted for close to 50% of the world gross domestic product – just 200 years ago," the entrepreneur said.
Reminding his listeners that ideas from India helped shaped the culture, law, philosophy and signs of the time, Dr. Jha advised that India has thousands and thousands of years of practice of harmonizing difference.
"There is an essence to India which tells us that behind the diversity of life there is a spiritual reality called unity. To some it is unity in diversity, an entity in which some eminent common spirit transcends apparent differences. To me India represents diversity in unity, a centrifugal state reined in by the very loosest and most fragile of bonds," he continued.
As part of the heritage observance the Vedic Cultural Center hosted a special program that included an exhibition with interactive demonstrations, photographic displays and a food bar at its 14th Avenue, Markham premises. Truly a fun-filled afternoon, organizers engaged politicians like Conservative Peter Kent and Liberal Michael Chan in an extensive dance session through which they followed directions from the choreographer. Other participants included students from the community, community leaders and police administrators.
Newly appointed Chief of York Regional Police Eric Joliffe congratulated the event organizers. He emphasized the town's profound diversity makeup of which the South Asian community was a vital part.
"We have shown despite our differences, we live in peace and harmony," he added.
Deputy Mayor Jack Heath said he wants to see more South Asian celebrations in Markham as he truly enjoyed the experience, especially the spicy food that are a definite part of South Asian celebrations.
Members of the VCC Heritage Committee that planned the celebration included Adityanand Kumar, Devanand Ramoutar, Norman Jainarine, Sharada Bhajan, Vivek Ramcharan, Satyanand Sarju, Dr. Harry Persaud, Ram Jagessar, Keoli Kumar, Ajit Wadhwa, Shailesh Joshi, Veda Mohabir, Das Ramsaroop, Savi Ramsaroop, Neera Chakrovarthy, Indeera Prasad, Sushima Narine, Sandy Heeralall, Amar Persaud, Sheila Jafri, Ahmed Jafri, Sita Raykha, Winston Tamaya, Shanti Sarwan and Arvin Sriram.
mainstream - Karygiannis
By William Doyle-Marshall
"Ethnic press media has outgrown by far all the mainstream media," said Jim Karygiannis, Member for Scarborough Agincourt in Ottawa during his address to the official launch of the 2011 exhibition of ethnic publications at the rotunda of Toronto City Hall organized by the National Ethnic Press and Media Council (NEPMCC).
The parliamentarian reminded NEPMCC members that they are the voice of Canada. Karygiannis appealed to all politicians to change their message to the ethnic media and move away from offering them words of platitude and give them money. Government money must not only go to the main media but also to the ethnic media, the MP stressed.
"We congratulate you, we are with you, we stand shoulder to shoulder and we thank you for being there to provide our message to our parents, to my mother that doesn't speak a word of English," Karygiannis concluded.
About 200 ethnic publications from across the country, including the Greater Toronto Area, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec were on display at Toronto City Hall, earlier this month, in observance of Freedom of the Press dedicated by the United Nations.
The collection of multilingual newspapers targets readers from literally every diverse community in the country. Among them were Sri Lanka (Tamil), Afghanistan, Rumania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Greece, China and the Caribbean.
Thomas Saras head of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council said the exhibition would be re-mounted in the summer at the Canadian National Exhibition for 18 days in the council's pavilion. "We are organized and we are promoting our product to the Canadian public in order to remove the myth that we are doing propaganda for other countries," Saras explained.
The annual NEPMCC exhibition promotes members and showcases what the ethnic press is doing in Canada. Saras stressed, it illustrates how the many cultural publications get their own news and who are the individuals behind them. He believes this section of the publishing industry maintains its independence and as such continues to be impartial regarding reporting of the news they present
"It is very important because the people will see over the next period of seven to eight days the exhibition and we are going to show to the government that we are here, we are organized and we are promoting whatever we call Canada and principles of the Canadian society," Saras added.
Eric Hoskins, Ontario's minister of citizenship and immigration who joined his political colleagues in viewing the exhibition acknowledged that each of those publications play a critically important role in the province's democracy. "Its clear from your display here at City Hall that the multilingual media and the NEPMCC in particular is more vibrant than ever.
The Ontario Cabinet minister admitted the publishers and editors are extremely dedicated and passionate about what they do. Ontario's multilingual media serves an extremely important purpose in our province, he contended. "Every democracy in the world depends on an active and free press. Here in Ontario where we enjoy such a diverse society where diversity truly is one of our greatest strengths multilingual media ensures that all Ontarians have the information they need to be active and informed citizens no matter what their backgrounds," Dr. Hoskins continued.
"We wouldn't be the type of society we are without a thriving multilingual media. Your readers, your viewers and your listeners rely on your report to inform them and engage them on the issues that matter to them," Hoskins added.
Politicians from every political level attended the exhibition launch and brought greetings to council members.
Senthi Chelliah, publisher of The Tamil's Guide - the yellow pages for the Sri Lankan community – and other publishers in attendance were delighted at being present at the exhibition which provided them opportunities to network with people from a cross section of the community. "So many politicians and political leaders are here, including Mayor Rob Ford," Chelliah noted.