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The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project logo

Conceptualization & Creation of The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project, Inc.

February 25 at The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation Project

Several Bengali Americans in New York, who are individuals whose families were victims of the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent – especially of (former British-Indian Bengal, which formerly was East Bengal) what is now an independent nation known as Bangladesh – who comprehended the necessity for and conceived a nonprofit organization that could be created, in collaboration, to be a Partition documentation project. This endeavor for documentation of the Indian Subcontinent's Partition (was co-founded by a married couple Distinguished Service Professor Dr. Sachi Dastidar and city planner Dr. Shefali Dastidar: both of whom are US citizens, both were previously Indian citizens, and both of whose families had been driven out of Bangladesh by religious extremists who subjected families like both of theirs to emotional & physical abuse and made it commonplace to burn ancestral homes and even raze buildings, deities, and mandirs) is called The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation Project Inc. or quite often referred to by the acronym ISPaD. to save the history and experiences of lost and displaced individuals and families, their villages, their life, and that of survivors and protectors.

The ISPaD Project has received "not-for-profit status" from the Departments of Education and State of New York and a 503-C tax-exempt status from the I.R.S. (of the U.S. Government). ISPaD is open to all.

The purposes of The ISPaD Project are:

*Document information from the people affected by the Partition;

*Collect historical records;

*Study and document demographic and social changes caused by the Partition;

*Create a center to disseminate and share the information with the public and civic groups and rights organizations engaged globally in such activities;

*Interact with the concerned governments and international bodies to raise awareness about the plight of the victims of ethnic cleansing and support the needy;

*Organize meetings, and seminars, conduct scholarly research, and publish journals and books.

*Solicitation of funds to support the above activities. Monetary funds have never been, nor shall they ever be used for any purpose beyond "The ISPaD Project's needs". No commercial or personal needs are supported financially by The ISPaD Project's resources. All assets are utilized in accordance with The Indian Subcontinent Project Documentation (ISPaD) Project's Mission Statement as an NGO.

ISPaD is looking for individual and family stories, documents, pictures, narratives, deeds, artifacts, books, family history, stories of refugees, survivors, protectors, and of the "lost" ones, tapes, films, videos of Bengal and Indian Partitions – from 1947 and 1971, through the present.

Distinguished Service Professor Dr. Sachi Dastidar who is the Executive Director of The Board of Directors and co-founder of The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project, Inc. NGO, playing the harmonium as part of the diverse collection of traditional Indian musical performances selected to participate. This was an especially entertaining event as it was intended to be showcasing the musical format and heritage from throughout the Indian Subcontinent. This was one example of various events held in the conference/special event/meeting area of ISPaD's NYC office.