The Indo-American Democratic Committee of New York organized a meeting with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the W Hotel Court New York on Feb. 11. About 75 members of the community from the Tristate area attended.

Welcoming Clinton, the committee’s president, Stanley J. Kalathara, thanked her for finding time to meet the community, which had worked hard during the elections to ensure the “success of their favorite leader.”

In her brief address, Clinton thanked the organizers in particular and the community in general for their support during the elections. She said that she was glad to see a few familiar faces. Clinton added that she was happy that “progressive countries,” including India, were united in their fight against terrorism. She then invited questions from the audience.

Anju Bhargava from New Jersey commented that the Community Builder Fellowship during former United States president Bill Clinton’s time was a very useful scheme, but it had been discontinued. She said that the scheme should be started again. Clinton informed the audience that the Bush administration was going to substitute the old scheme with a new one.

Dr. Bhupi Patel suggested that the Democratic Party should provide a safe constituency for an Indian candidate for U.S. Congress. Clinton said that Maryland State Assembly delegate Kumar Barve was already in the race. Barve, the first Indian American to be elected to a state legislative Assembly more than a decade ago, has, however, withdrawn from the race.

Prakash Shah added that Sukhmander Singh from California was also a candidate for Congress. A few people in the audience alleged that there generally was a pro-Pakistan bias in the media, particularly with regard to the contentious issue of Kashmir. Clinton suggested that the community field a few spokespersons for the media, particularly for the electronic media, to explain the Indian government’s stand on Kashmir vis-a-vis terrorism.

After the question-and-answer session, Bipin Sangankar, secretary of the Indo-American Democratic Committee, presented a bust of Mahatma Gandhi to Clinton, on behalf of the Gujarat Club for Success and Sharing. Dr. P. Singh Sabharwal and Mohinder Taneja presented the senator with a plaque on behalf of the Sikh Organization of New York. Sangankar thanked Clinton, her staff and the community for a successful exchange of views. Prominent members of the community who attended the event included Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Dr. Bhupi Patel, Veena Merchant, director and editor-in-chief of News India-Times and Desi Talk, Prakash Shah, Dr. P. Singh Sabharwal and Arvind Vora. Clinton spent over an hour and a half with the community leaders.