Bill Text: NY J00639 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 15, 2023, as Indian Independence Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-04-10 - ADOPTED [J00639 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J00639-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 639

BY: Senator THOMAS

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        August 15, 2023, as Indian Independence Day  in  the
        State of New York

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of this Legislative Body to recognize
official days that  are  important  to  the  cultural  heritage  of  the
citizens of New York State; and

  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this  Legislative  Body  is  justly  proud  to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 15, 2023, as Indian
Independence Day in the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  On  August 15, 1947, India was declared independent of the
British Empire after nearly two hundred years of colonial control, which
was marked by oppression, sacrifice and struggle; and

  WHEREAS, India's Independence Day is enormously important to  people
around  the  world, as it marks the end of a 90-year struggle to achieve
stronger   civil,   political   and   economic   rights    along    with
self-determination; and

  WHEREAS,  In 1857, citizens across India engaged in a revolt against
the rule of the British East India Company, the result of which  was  an
end  to  its  rule,  and  marked  the  beginning of the movement to gain
India's independence; and

  WHEREAS, Countless brave and  courageous  Indian  people  sacrificed
their lives for the independence of their country and for the betterment
of the lives of their families, friends, and peers; and

  WHEREAS,  Indian  Independence  Day is especially noteworthy for its
use of nonviolent protest through the Noncooperation  movement,  led  by
Mohandas  Gandhi,  whose teachings remind us transformative goals can be
accomplished through peace and common cause; and

  WHEREAS, Indian Independence Day lead to the  founding  of  what  is
today the largest Democratic country in the world; and

  WHEREAS,  Indian  Independence  Day  is  also significant in that it
showed the world that the various Indian peoples  could  unify  under  a
common cause; and

  WHEREAS,  Indian  Independence  Day is a momentous occasion which is
celebrated extravagantly throughout the  world,  including  with  events
such  as flag raising ceremonies in each of the state capitals in India,
kite flying, national color displays, singings of  the  Indian  national
anthem, and exquisite parades that display Indian patriotism; and

  WHEREAS,  It is important to honor and cherish the ancestral history
of the citizens of the State of New York, and to educate the citizens of
this state of the richness thereof; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 15, 2023, as Indian
Independence Day in the State of New York; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York.