DESI RTP PRESS RELEASE
Friday, July 22, 2005
Triangle, NC
For Immediate Release
Re: Kashmir Exhibition and Francois Gautier’s Talk
“A Glimpse of a Tragedy Without an End” - Kashmir Exhibition
&
Francois Gautier’s Talk
On Wednesday, July 20th and Thursday, July 21st, hundreds of residents of the Triangle, NC area took advantage of an opportunity to view a unique exhibition on Kashmir titled “A Glimpse of a Tragedy Without an End,” and hear a talk by award-winning and world-renowned journalist and author, Francois Gautier. The exhibition and talk were held at the Hindu Bhavan Cultural Hall on Wednesday, July 20th and at the Duke University’s Freeman Center on Thursday, July 21st. Both events were organized by Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT) – an organization founded by Gautier – and Develop Empower and Synergize India (DESI).
The Kashmir exhibition is an attempt to highlight the impact of terrorism on the Hindu minority in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It depicts the plight of the 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus who were tortured, raped, killed, and ultimately ethnically-cleansed from the Kashmir Valley in 1989-1990 by Islamic terrorists. These Kashmiri Hindus have been turned into refugees in their own country and currently languish in refugee camps in Jammu and New Delhi. A highly-educated, secular and tolerant community with an ancient and distinct culture, the Kashmiri Hindus have found little support from the Indian government, human rights organizations or the international community.
Francois Gautier’s talks focused on the history and uniquely tolerant culture of the Hindus. He shared his own personal experiences, as a foreign journalist working in India, explaining how the peaceful, all-inclusive Hindu culture has influenced him. He urged Hindus living in America to take up the cause of human rights of persecuted Hindus in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere, by highlighting the issue in mainstream American media, talking to their representatives in the Congress and Senate, and participating in non-violent protests and demonstrations. Mr. Gautier was born and raised in France, but has lived in India for the past 33 years, is married to an Indian, and works for Ouest-France, the largest circulated daily in France, and LCI, France’s 24-hour TV news channel. In addition, he writes “The French Connection” column in The Pioneer, and Indian daily, and contributes regularly to rediff.com.
FACT-USA, a registered non-profit organization in the US, is an initiative to raise awareness about the impact of terrorism on innocent people through exhibitions, conferences and other methods. DESI is a new organization in the Triangle, NC area which seeks to highlight issues related to Indian history, culture, society, economy, security and contemporary politics.
For more information about FACT and the Kashmir exhibition, please visit www.factusa.org. To learn more about Francois Gautier and his work, please visit www.francoisgautier.com. For information about DESI, please visit rtpdesi.blogspot.com, or email us at
