WASHINGTON : It was a sort of a history-making event when the Virginia State Assembly honored an Indian immigrant family from Punjab, with a proclamation for its record of activism and service to the local community.

The proclamation, adopted by the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates last month, commended Amarjit Singh, his wife Jagdish Singh and daughter Tuni Singh, for their “selfless activism to promote greater fairness, justice and decency.”

Amarjit Singh was recently elected to lead the Multicultural Alliance of Virginia, a group made up of more than 14 nationalities that holds festivals and cultural events throughout the year and Tuni Singh has assisted the residents of Fairwood Homes, a low-income neighborhood in Portsmouth, Va., in obtaining relocation assistance when the landlord decided to close the facility. Jagdish Singh held a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks. Shamina Singh, another daughter of Amarjit and Jagdish Singh, was recently appointed as key advisor to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

The mayor of Virginia Beach Meyera E. Oberndorf also honored the Singh family with a proclamation last month, describing Amarjit, Jagdish and Tuni Singh as “exemplary citizens of Virginia and models of dedication who have led extraordinary lives to improve quality of life in the neighborhoods, easing suffering and reducing injustice. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Yvonne B. Miller (D-Norfolk) and Del. Kenneth C. Alexander (D-Norfolk), was handed over to the Singh family at a gala celebration on May 16.

Amarjit Singh is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in Virginia for the last 35 years. For 30 years, he served the Virginia community college system and retired in 1998 work as a consultant. He and Jagdish Singh were both born in India in the 1930s, were married in India and came to Chesapeake area of Virginia in 1970 when Amarjit Singh took up a teaching job at the Tidewater Community College.

By that time the family had grown to include five daughters, Tuni Singh being the eldest. They have lived ever since in the Chesapeake area. Amarjit Singh was a hockey player and at age of 22, represented India at the International Olympic Academy in Greece in 1961.

He was invited by the White House to bring his expertise and experience to the Commerce Department and to accompany former president Bill Clinton on his state visit to India.

Jagdish Singh was born in a small village in Punjab and was raised in a joint family of six paternal uncles, four aunts, a grandfather and grandmother and lots of cousins.

She graduated from Baring Union Christian College, Punjab, and went to Old dominion University in Virginia to complete her Masters of Science and Education in 1974.

As a young girl, Jagdish Singh says she was once caught drinking water from the same cup as a lower-caste girl, and was chastised by her grandfather. The memory stayed with her and she knew she would fight for equal treatment at every chance she got. During a war between India and Pakistan, she recalled that she asked her college not to hold its annual end of the year party, but to donate the funds to the war. She gave away her gold bangles to raise money to help fight the war, she told News India-Times. The family then moved to Statesboro, Ga., in the late 1960s where Amarjit Singh pursued an education degree at Georgia Southern College.