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Dear Friends,
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Notice that FOKANA published accounts from April 15, 2008 only, and FOMAA published accounts from May 9th only. For the period July 5th 2006, thru April 14, 2008, who will account for $200000 or more, that is still unaccounted for?

We are not talking about couple of thousands during this period, $200000 is huge money, that was collected from individual from member associations (public), sponsors for the Conventions in Houston , Philadeliphia, and Kerala. It is still missing, let all member associations join together and question this ?

We need to collect information about any accounts that was paid for Houston/KErala/Philadelphia conventions during Jul 5, 2006 – April 14, 2008 time period, no matter it is FOKANA or FOMAA or for a group that was not an organization at that time. I am happy to coordinate this info. Please help.

Best regards
Thomas John

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Thomas Kurian, PC
Certified Public Accountants

To the Board of Directors, Fomaa, Houston, TX

We have audited the accompanying Financial position of Federation of Malayalee Associations of America as of November 12, 2008 and the related statement of Income and expense, and cash flows for the period May 9 through November 12, 2008 ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of of Fomaa’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the US. Those statndards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the accounts and disclosures in the financila statements. An audit also includes assesing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Fomaa as of November 12, 2008, and the results of their operations and thier cash flows for the period of May 9 through November 12, 2008 ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the US.

signed/

Income
donations:  55,135
Registartion and sponsorships: 164,740
Sales: 2865
Total income: 222,740

Expense
Administartive expense: 7624
Advts and promotion: 6550
Bank service charges: 86
Conference and meeting: 1554
Equipment rental: 950
Fodd expense: 6948
Hospitality expenses: 128,076
Insurance: 643
Internet: 1680
Office supplies: 418
Postage: 1280
printing: 5000
Professional fee: 2590
Rent: 2043
security: 2043
Sound: 25,000
Special events” 22,200
Stage decoration: 9286
Telephone: 513
Transportation: 6000
Trveling: 17,236
Trophy and award expenses: 7,700
Vedio and photos: 12,600
Web hosting: 900
Youth program: 3231
Total: 272,719

Net: -49,979

assets: 6,637

liabilities: 55,616

Eqity

Capital: 1000

Net income (49979)

Total equity  (48,979)

Total liabilities and equity: 6637.

Operations activity

Adjustments to reconcile net income: 59,979

Short term laond: 56,616

Net cash provided by financing activities 56,616

cash at the ened of the period: 6637

(Pl check with original)

Completing the split in Fokana, the Federation of Malayalee Associations in America (FOMAA) was officially born with its own constitution and new officials. 

The general council meeting held at the Kenilworth Inn in New Jersey was attended by more than 170 representatives from 41 associations, officials said. 

The general council approved the constitution with several changes from the draft. In the afternoon it elected the new officials. 

John Titus and John C Varghese (Salim) will remain president and secretary. Adhoc committee vice president Yohannan Sankarathil and Savy Mathew contested for the post of vice president. Both received 59 votes each. Sankarathil was declared winner after a draw. 

Other officials 

Treasurer: Joseph Ouso; Joint secretary: Josy Kurisunkal; Jont treasurer: Raj Kurup. 

National committee members: Paul C Mathai; Sunny Abraham; Ben Kochikkaran; Sunny Paulose; Anil Nair; PM Mathew; Fr. Daniel Pullelil; John Samuel; Sankaran Kutty; Issac; Shaji Edward; Saji Abraham; Benoy Thomas 

Regional Vice presidents. 

New York metro: Fred Cochin; Empire State: Roy Chengannur; Wester region (CA) Sam Oommen; Texas: Babu Zacharia; Washington DC region: Thomas Jose (Josekutty); Florida region: Antony Roy; Chicago region: Jose Panangad; New England region (CT) Kurian Varghese; New Jersey-Pennsylvania region: Dr Shawn Davis; 

(Michigan region: Joseph Mathew; Canada: Thomas Thomas-they were not present at the meeting)

The election was conducted by Joy Vachachira, Raju Varghese and George Mathew. 

The general body passed the account presented by treasurer MG Mathew. It showed a loss of $49,000. President Sasidharan Nair donated $50,000 making the account with a $1000 profit. 

MG Mathew gave the audited account to the press also, a thing that happened for the first time in many years. He said the five day convention was held at a five star hotel with only an expense of $273,000, where as it was almost $600,000 in Orlando convention. Sasidharan Nair said he is happy to donate the money and was even prepared to give away up to $150,000. 

The Constitution 

Even though the draft constitution envisaged for membership to individuals, it was rejected in the general council. But the constitution allows membership for professional organizations. Professional associations which work nationally like AKMG or nurse’s association will be accepted, Dr James Kurichi, who was the chair of the drafting committee said. 

Another notable feature is that there will be no trustee board or board of directors. There will be an advisory council, which will have only powers to advise the executive. But there will be a judicial committee with a five member team with a four year term. They will oversee the work of the executive. It has powers to take disciplinary action. Those who have complaints about anything should approach the council first, and if needed it will be sent to the general council. Only after that, people can approach a court of law. 

The constitution asks for a performance bond from the president, secretary and treasurer. The bond is to ensure that they will be liable for the finances and have to bear the losses themselves. 

The account should be presented on the fourth Saturday in October after a convention. 

Also, the new committee should present their budget in the general council for approval. 

Three seats each in the national committee will be reserved for women and youth. 

There are 11 regions now with new names. The drafting of the constitution was a tough job, Dr James said. A 27-member committee with Raju Varghese as secretary worked with him for this. He said they tried to plug the loopholes for problems later as far as possible. 

Convention in Las Vegas 

The second convention of Fomaa will be held in Las Vegas from July 1 to 5, 2010, president Titus and secretary Salim said in a press conference attended by all the elected officials as well as Sasidharan Nair and former secretary Aniyan George. The exact venue will be announced later. 

They said they are not concerned if other organizations too conduct their convention the same date and it will not affect the Fomaa convention. 

Salim said the new committee will soon organize a youth festival nationally with opportunities to participate in an international festival. Fomaa will also help the writers in the US and organize a contest in various fields.

Political involvement and helping those seeking elected office will be also an important part of Fomaa’s work. 

Sasidharan Nair and Aniyan George said they were happy to entrust the job to capable people and will help them in all future work. Both said they will concentrate now on their work and business. 

Fomaa will not be an organization for a convention only, Titus and Salim clarified. There are plans for many charity works. Titus said he will donate 25 houses in Kerala as part of the 25th anniversary of staring his business. The committee also will donate an equal number making 50 houses. 

Sasidharan Nair said there are no chances of unity now. Salim said if they still feel for unity the other group can approach Fomaa. 

The chances for unity was destroyed by the adamant stand of the other group, Titus said citing examples.

Former Fokana presidents, J Mathews, Kalathil Pappachan and George Koshy were present.

Baby Uralil said he is happy to organize the Fomaa convention 2012 in New York.

A virtual melee has ensued in print and digital media over the selection of Ms. Sonal Shah, an American of Indian origin to the Obama transition team’s advisory board. Shrill accusations of Ms. Shah being a “racist and Hindu chauvinist” are being reciprocated by equally shrill attempts to portray anyone who raises serious questions about the selection as being anti-India, anti-Hindu, anti-progress, and recently, as against “liberal civility.” We condemn such baseless and unfair statements.
At the outset we wish to acknowledge that Ms. Shah has had a record of being a visible and an important face of the “desi American” community – a successful professional, and a politically and socially engaged citizen.
We are also happy to note at least one positive effect from this debate. Even as this issue gets played out on pubic fora, the din of militant Hindutva drumbeats has suffered some dampening. Almost all participants, including those who have come out in support of Ms. Shah, have said that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — both integral to the Hindutva movement, are part of the “politics of hate” that must be resisted. We wish such statements had come much earlier, such as the time when people were being butchered in Gujarat, or when Indicorps (an organization Ms. Shah co-founded) was felicitated by Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Ms. Shah has become something of a point of pride for many Americans with origins in India. But Ms. Shah does have feet that leave tracks, has written words that have been archived, and has occupied offices of responsibility. We wish to explore this material record below by examining two of the most persuasive claims made by supporters of Ms. Shah. These are:
1. That accusations of Ms. Shah being a closet Hindutva ideologue amount to “guilt by association” , a reference to the fact that her father Mr. Ramesh Shah has well documented leadership roles within the Sangh Parivar (Collective Family, the name for the set of organizations of Hindutva).
2. That Ms. Shah’s only association with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) was in the context of the Gujarat earthquake; surely, she cannot be faulted for not picking the right organization when urgent action was the need of the hour.
Our claims of Ms. Shah’s Hindutva associations are not based on guilt by association. Instead, we ask: What organizational and ideological work did Ms. Shah perform for and as part of the VHPA?
We have archived records demonstrating that Ms. Shah was a part of VHPA’s leadership group–the governing council and chapter
presidents/coordina tors. She participated in strategy discussions with prominent leaders of the Sangh Parivar. Ms. Shah was not just a
bystander, she was considered important and trustworthy enough by the Hindutva leadership to be included in a core group with Ajay Shah, Gaurang Vaishnav, Mahesh Mehta, Yashpal Lakra, Vijay Pallod, Shyam Tiwari, and others. Does Ms. Shah deny that she played such a role?
Even in light of the recent public statement by Gaurang Vaishnav, General Secretary of the VHPA, that Ms. Shah was made a member of the governing council as she came out of college?
We are glad to hear Ms. Shah assert that her “personal politics have nothing in common with the views espoused by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or any such organization” , and that she does not “subscribe to the views of such Hindu nationalist groups”. However, in view of her close association with VHPA, as summarized above, Ms. Shah’s claim to have “never” subscribed to such Hindu nationalist views strains credulity.
Ms. Shah’s participation in the VHPA Governing Council predates by a few years her position as National Coordinator of VHPA’s Gujarat earthquake activities in 2001. The position of earthquake relief coordinator doesn’t seem to be an easy one to ascend to — VHPA’s website states that “national projects are executed by a committee of members drawn from the Governing Council and the various chapters.” Thus, Ms. Shah’s coordination of VHPA earthquake relief seems to have built upon her earlier leadership role within the VHPA. We do not know when/if her affiliation with the VHPA ceased, but VHPA media secretary Shyam Tiwari has recently claimed: “Sonal was a member of VHP of America at the time of the earthquake. Her membership has [now] expired.”
A note about Ms. Shah’s earthquake relief work. Calamities such as the 2001 Bhuj earthquake often bring out the best in humans, but the Sangh Parivar is notorious for using such moments instrumentally and cynically for advancing its violent ideological agenda. An ordinary donor or fund-raiser can be excused for not knowing the Sangh agenda, but for someone like Ms. Shah, who grew up in a family deeply rooted in the Sangh Parivar, it is more than a little disingenuous to claim that such fund-raising was apolitical or neutral. There are numerous documented instances of the Sangh Parivar’s religion- and caste-based discrimination in doling out relief. Therefore we are shocked that Ms. Shah has expressed pride in coordinating relief work (under the ambit of VHPA) following the Gujarat earthquake of 2001. The relief work coordinated by the VHP is known to have rebuilt villages in the Kutch region exclusively for caste Hindus while marginalizing lower caste Hindus and Muslims to the periphery. The VHP thus took the opportunity of the earthquake to re-create multi-ethnic villages into exclusive Hindu spaces. In addition, given the pivotal role played by the VHP and other Sangh organizations in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom, we fear her pride is entirely misplaced.
Although we appreciate the positive influence Ms. Shah has had on many second-generation desis, we have a hard time forgetting the many victims of Hindutva. If Ms. Shah really wants to dispel doubts about her linkages with the VHPA and other Sangh Parivar outfits, we urge her to be more forthcoming in her condemnations of the Sangh Parivar, especially its branches in the United States since that has been the site of her involvement. Some ways for Ms. Shah to do this would be to:
1. acknowledge her past organizational associations with the Sangh Parivar

2. distance herself from the public reception reportedly planned by the RSS in her native village in Gujarat

3. categorically condemn the role played by Hindutva forces in anti-minority violence in India, and the facilitation of this violence
by funds sent through various Sangh Parivar affiliates in the United States
In Peace and Justice
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (www.stopfundinghat e.org)

[for a hyperlinked version of the statement, see
http://sanghsamacha r.wordpress. com/2008/ 11/14/csfh- statement- on-sonal- shah/]

AKCA- An Umbrella Organization for All American Keralites

pmathulla@aol.com

According to one estimate there are more than 5000 Keralite families in Houston. MAGH (Malayalee Association of Greater Houston) has just ten percent of the Keralites here, as members. The situation is similar or worse in most other US cities.  We need strong leaders with right vision for the future. Our children are our future here. Our children are not involved in Malayalee Associations. Analyzing the reason for this, the way we named our organization and identify ourselves as, “Malayalees” is the No 1 reason. We call this Malayalee Association- by the name of our language. We love our language and culture and want our children to learn and speak our language. The truth is that most of the children don’t know this language. It is said that Malayalam is the second most difficult language to learn though it is a foreign missionary that wrote the first dictionary for the language. The reality is that most of our children don’t know our language. We ourselves learned this language growing up in our culture and studying the language for ten years in our schools. Even then, only a handful among us knows how to write all the letters correct, in order. We tried to teach them Malayalam. Only families where Grandpa or Grandma was living with the family picked the language to speak at least and forget about reading and writing. So when we call ourselves Malayalees, our children can’t identify with that name. None of us will join an organization called African American Association, as we can’t identify with that organization. So it is in our best interest to change the name from Malayalee Association to the name of our culture as American Keralite Association (AKA) or American Keralite Community Association (AKCA), with chapters in all the cities in USA. Our children even if they don’t know Malayalam, can identify with such an organization.
Before a person joins an organization, he or she will think- “what use I have from this?” If we can’t meet their needs, we can’t get them involved. If we can’t make a proper assessment of their needs, how can we get them involved? Right now we are focused on arranging a few cultural programs and sports items. These needs are already met through the churches or temple they belong to here. So focusing on a few cultural programs or sports items is not the way to get their participation. We need to step in, where churches can’t enter- encouraging people to fulfill their civic responsibilities in public service. This is the only way this organization can grow.
 If our children have to live in this land with dignity, we need to teach them the political process. If there is an issue in our community and if we approach a City Council member or Mayor or Congressman or Senator, the first thing they look at is how many of us voted in the election or how strongly we are organized. If they find that we have no voice or we don’t vote at all, then they might think, “Why should I help them, as I can’t expect them to get out and vote for me?” We don’t have our due representation in any of the elected bodies here. We must organize a voter registration campaign to register voters in our community and to encourage them to vote and stand for election
 How much money we give as property tax a year? How many people are employed in our school system from our community? How many policemen are there from our community? These are all appointments based on political considerations. How much government contracts, business our community get in a year. What say we have in deciding the school curricula, the selection of teachers, or the how the tax money is spent? Do you care if your children’s teachers are Gays and they influence your children more than you influence them? For, our children and us to live here in dignity, we can’t let Gay and Lesbian marriage. We have to join with others on areas we can agree. For this we need to come together and organize ourselves. My family and I only, attitude is pure selfishness. Instead of getting involved in the issues affecting our future here, we are self-centered and shortsighted. Spare time, we are after entertainments. We need an awakening from this slumber state.
As a first step, we need to name this organization such that all of us can come together and stand united. American keralite is something our children can feel one with that will remind them of their roots.Many arguments are heard against changing the name FOMAA. None of these arguments hold any water. As you know FOMAA was named in stressful conditions. The name was not well thought out. It still carries the stigma of an illegitimate birth as George Parnel suggested with all the bitterness associated with its birth. Our past must not be a stumbling block in our moving forward. Fro the ashes of both FOMAA and FOKANA a new organization must arise that can unite us all together that will be a source of comfort for future generations. We don’t want to imitate FOKANA as a Federation
Mr. Sasidaran Nair in the MAGH meeting in Houston, immediately after forming FOMAA announced that FOMAA is formed only to conduct this convention and after the convention its name and nature will be decided. A Bylaw committee was formed to decide its name and nature. Name is one of two areas Bylaw committee could not agree unanimously. So this will be brought to the General Council.
Another argument is that the name FOMAA is already announced and now it is too late to change it. This argument is not valid. The general Council is the right body to decide the name. Representatives from all American Keralite community are in the General Council as leaders of the community. If they think that a name change is necessary, they can easily explain to the members in the community why the name change was necessary. So “American Keralite Community Association” will be a better choice for the name. “Akca” in Malayalam means elder sister. Other organizations will always recognize it as an elder sister.
Yet another reason against name change is personal. Those who came up with the name FOMAA like to be remembered with that name. This argument also is childish. Within a few days most will forget who proposed the name. People only remember who worked for public good or contributed to the community. There is no room for personal gain here but the best interest of the community. So let us rise above personal gains and open our hand and work together united, for the good of the community. If we have a plan, five years down the road, the impact we create in this country and the things achieved will be amazing. Let us work together

When a bunch of young Indian Americans huddled together at an Indian restaurant in downtown Manhattan one fine February evening in 2007 to establish South Asians for Obama (SAFO) to get Barack Obama elected as the next US president, well established community leaders were quick to dismiss it as a day dream. 

Those were the days when most of the entire Indian American community was supporting Hillary Clinton for presidency.