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Press Release in response to the Lowell Hate Crimes

Vanita Shastri, Massachusetts

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Lexington, MA, Dec 6, 2002 -- The Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE), strongly deplores the incident that occurred in Lowell in which three persons demanding money and shouting references to Osama bin Laden assaulted three Indian students of UMass Lowell. The incident was reported in the Lowell Sun by Jack Minch in which Minch states that the case is being treated as an incident of hate crime by the Lowell police.

According the report in Lowell Sun, a local teenager, who had been bragging about having helped beat up some people, has been arrested. Bruised and sore, the victims, who have been in the country only three months are graduate students at Umass Lowell, refused to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the assault has left them afraid to walk to classes and unable to concentrate on their studies.

The IAFPE condemns the violent assaults, harassment and threats against people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent that have occurred in the United States since terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The leaders of IAFPE have expressed strong condemnation of this hate related incident against innocent Indian students.

"The repercussions of these attacks go well beyond the individual victims or incidents to all members of the victim's community. Incidents such as the one in Lowell undermine the very ideals of tolerance, religious freedom, diversity and equality that America stands for. We are very concerned about our security and are uncertain about our safety. We would like to see the assailants brought to justice and apply the full force of law including charges of civil rights violation of the victims", said Dr. Vanita Shastri, President of IAFPE, Massachusetts Chapter.

"We are shocked to hear about this event and would like to note that the Indian community feels insecure about its safety and civic liberties in these times of uncertainty," said Dr. Ravi Sakhuja, a board member of IAFPE.

"We call on law enforcement officials to provide enhanced protection for targeted individuals and groups, and their homes, places of business, and houses of worship; to vigorously investigate any reports of criminal behavior against them; and to hold accountable those found responsible", said Shastri.

Dr. Triveni Upadhyay, another leader of IAFPE said, "This is a serious matter and we want the authorities to know that we are watching their response with great interest and concern."

IAFPE is a non-profit organization with a mission to 'Empower Indian Americans politically by raising civic consciousness and increasing participation in community affairs and the mainstream political process.'