U.S. Rep. Lee, Green Join Historic Mission to India
By Pramod Kulkarni
Last updated: Feb 28, 2009

HOUSTON: Despite a gruelling 16-hour airplane journey from India, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was beaming.

She was showing off a paper medallion created by students of a shelter for the homeless in Ahmedabad at a press conference held last Saturday afternoon at the George H. Bush Airport. Rep. Lee (Democrat - 18th District) had just returned from a historic trip to India, retracing the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King 50 years ago.

The delegation included the grandson of Dr. King and leaders such as Andrew Young and Rep. John Lewis, who had worked alongside Dr. King. Rep. Al Green (Democrat - 9th District) was also a member of the delegation. Highlights of the three-city trip included a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat in New Delhi, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated The delegation met a host of Indian officials, including Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, acting Prime Minister Pranab Mukherjee as well as members of the Gandhi family. “We wanted to thank India giving us the non-violent means for our civil rights struggle through Mahatma Gandhi, said Rep. Lee. “We also wanted to commemorate the non-violent process that Dr. Martin Luther King used to prevent a civil war, enable the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and eventually leading to the election of Barak Obama as the first Black President of the United States.”

The delegation also visited Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In Mumbai, the group stayed at the Taj Hotel as an act of defiance against the terrorist attack on the hotel on 26/11. Rep. Lee joined the delegation to pay tribute to the 180 victims of the attack. The delegation held a prayer and a moment of silence in front of India Gate, adjacent to the hotel.

In Ahmedabad, the delegation visited Sabarmati Ashram, where Gandhi began his satyagraha movement in India. Rep. Lee said she wished to encourage greater trade between India and U.S. She said she had met with representatives of the Indian Merchants Chamber who will be sending a trade delegation here. Asked how Gandhi and Martin Luther King would have dealt with terrorism, Rep. Lee said.

“Both knew the cost of violence as they both died violently. They would have stayed consistent with their message. Gandhi said if we seek an eye for an eye, the world will be blind.” U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee shows off a hand-made medallion of Gandhi and Martin Luther King created by students of a shelter for the homeless in Ahmedabad.