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Divided Indian community prepares to host PM

Last year, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to the United States was marked by a major goof-up, when an incorrect map of India was printed on the official brochure.

This year, it seems more embarrassment is in store with a public spat between two organisers of last year's visit.

The Federation of Indian Associations and the National Federation of Indian Associations will be left out of the public reception for Vajpayee this week.

The reception, which will be held at the Haft Auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York on September 14, is in collaboration with the Overseas Friends of the BJP, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the Association of Indians in America, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Indian American Chambers of Commerce, and the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin.

Traditionally, the FIA, an umbrella organisation, has been part of such public receptions. But Dr Mukund Mody, who is a personal friend of the PM, says it has been left out this time as it gave a "hard time" last year.

With allegations flying thick and fast, it remains to be seen if the two groups -- the Indian American Community and the FIA-NFIA combine -- will be able to sort out their differences in time.

According to Dr Mody, president of the IAC and former president of the FIA, the problem goes back to the PM's visit last year, when he was instrumental in organising the public reception.

"At that time, our organisation was using the FIA bank account since we didn't have our own, and we raised money through the reception," he said. "Later, however, the FIA and NFIA failed to pay their dues and even froze the bank account so we couldn't make any payments. Ultimately, I had to make most of the payments out of my own pocket."

The money left over from the PM's visit was to be donated among the relief camps for victims of the Gujarat earthquake. But according to Mody, the freezing of the accounts meant that nothing could be done.

For his part, Subhash Dalal, then president of the FIA, alleges that Mody failed to submit final account statements of the event. "He did not submit any final account and since they were using our tax ID, we could not possibly have gone ahead with accounting for the expenses," he told rediff.com. "We had to freeze the accounts. They refused to let us sign the checks and we had no idea of where the money was going or being spent," he said.

Dalal admits that Mody submitted a partial bill, but insists there was no way he could let the account be used without a full statement. "It would get us in trouble since our tax ID was being used," he said.

Mody says all the statements were faxed to the FIA.

Dalal also alleges that the event was mismanaged with Mody handling the entire show. "We offered to help, but he said he didn't want any," Dalal said, adding, "as a result, there was chaos with people who had paid for a table not getting seating or a chance to meet with the PM."

Mody alleges that the FIA made him run around when it came to sending the surplus from the PM's visit to Gujarat.

"It was agreed that any surplus money would be sent to the Gujarat earthquake victims, but the FIA and NFIA didn't pay their share, which was over $12,000, for a long time," he alleged. "To make matters worse, they froze the account so I couldn't make any payments."

Mody also claims that he settled the bills through his credit card, which resulted in large interest payments. "Finally, Dalal made a payment on one of the outstanding bills from his own account, instead of the FIA account," he said.

Dalal doesn't deny paying from his account, but says he did it out of consideration. "I owed them only $1,500 but I paid $2,000."

The money, says Mody, was finally paid when the FIA wanted an audience with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "I arranged for them to meet the chief minister and also hand over the check at the same time," he said.

Another allegation that Mody makes is that the FIA had objections to the participation of GOPIO in the reception. "I thought it was unwarranted," he said.

Jagdish Patel, vice-president of the FIA, denies the charge. "We don't have any objection to anyone taking part," he told rediff.com. As for the financial wrangle, Patel claims he has no knowledge of what had transpired last year, since he was not involved. He also claimed that he was not aware that the FIA was being left out of the reception. "We have not yet been informed officially about that so far, so I really don't know," he said.

"The FIA has always been doing it, but now Dr Mody is doing it himself. So it seems the prime minister needs friends more than the public," Patel said.

Dalal maintained that Mody shouldn't leave the FIA out. "We should all be together, we are a good community, the FIA has been around for 30 years and if anyone is leaving it out, it's a mistake," he said.

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