The Federation of Kerala Associations in North America and the Indian. American Forum for Political Education are jointly mounting a campaign to persuade the postmaster general and the U.S. Postal Service to issue a 32cent commemorative stamp in. honor of the late Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American and only Indian American elected to the U.S.
Congress.
The two groups are keying their lobbying efforts t0 be timed for the 50th anniversary of signing of the CellerLuce bill (Public Law 483) by President Harry S. Truman July 3, 1946, which gave Indians the right to be naturalized as U.S, citizens.
The Dallas based FOK ANA and the Washington based forum are planning “Golden Jubilee Celebrations” next year to commemorate the historic signing. FOKANA will be holding its annual convention at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas, July 36, and the group is planning a banquet on the first night to highlight the anniversary. The forum is looking for a site in Washington for its annual convention in June next year and is planning some events in Washington during Asian American Heritage month in May next year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bill.
HIGH HOPES The two groups are hoping that the issuance of a stamp honoring Saund, elected to three terms in Congress to represent the Riverside Imperial Valley area in 1956, 1958 and 1960, can somehow get approved before June next year.
The coheirs for the Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Sambhu Banik of the Indian American Forum and J. John “Sunny” Wycliffe of FOKANA, met with Hillary Clinton at a reception for Asian leaders at the White House May 15 and gave her information about the event. Bank said he is urging all Astan American groups to contact the postmaster general with suggestions on Asian Americans who could be honored on Commemorative stamps. A national stamp design competition is being organized concerning the theme of Asian American citizenship, with the best five color designs to be submitted to the postmaster for consideration. ‘The deadline for the entries is August31, 1995, Entries should be mailed to; Golden Jubilee Commemorative Stamp Competition, 9000 Acredale Court, College Park, MD 20740, (301) 9355321. The act of 1943 entitled “Dalip Singh Saund to be elected as a member of the U.S. Congress in 1956,” said Wycliffe and Tapan Mukherjee, advisory committee chair for the celebration,
“Since then the immigration laws have been modified and changed several times. Now, it is not only easier for Indians to immigrate to the United States, (but) once in, they contribute to the entire American society with pride and dignity.”
Article extracted from this publication >> June 9, 1995
