Indian American Community, Cerritos College Foundation Event Calls For World Peace

By KEWAL KANDA

NORWALK, CA – The Indian American community along with the Cerritos College Foundation and other local associations marked the International Day of Non-Violence on October 1 with a peace rally and speeches that exhorted eschewing violence in favor of dialog.

The event began with a Peace Parade at the Cerritos College campus with participants crying out slogans like, “What we need – Peace” “When we need it – Now” and humming “Raghu Pati Raghav Raja Ram.” The 30-minute-long parade saw the participation of members of all faiths, college students, as well as members of the Cerritos College Foundation.

The rally culminated at the ‘Peace Center of Los Angeles’ established in the college here by the foundation with a partial endowment from the Indian community. Ila Mehta is Chair and Ashok Madan Co-chair of the board.

The peace event, chaired by Vijay Patil, founder president of Shivaji Maharaj American Parivar (SMAP) began in the theater with soothing instrumental music and was followed by cultural presentations. A slew of speeches were given by Dr. Mohammed Yakub ( Indian Muslim Association); Sylvester Ani (Director of ‘The Love We Don’t See’); Jason Barquero, Martha Pelayo, and Nazih Yehya, all of the  Cerritos College Foundation; Yogi Patel and Parimal Shah Committee Members of the Peace Center.

Nitish Patel, Ali Sajjad Taj, and Naresh Solanki council members from the cities of La Palma, Artesia and Cerritos handed over certificates of appreciation to the organizers.