Dear colleagues, friends, and students,
As director of the University of Michigan Center for South Asian Studies (CSAS), I wish to extend heartfelt support for all in India who are suffering the impacts of COVID-19. I write in solidarity with all of our cherished alumni, friends, and family members in India, as well as on behalf of our current students and their families. To all who are enduring these agonies, we at CSAS agonize with you. As you grieve, we grieve too.
I echo the words of U-M President Schlissel, and encourage those who both are looking for ways to help and who need support themselves to read his message and take action. I applaud the recent White House announcement of aid in the form of resources and supplies, including those needed for vaccine production, materials for testing and diagnosis, and equipment to protect front line medical care workers in India. I call on the White House and U.S. NGOs to continue exploring options for providing urgently needed oxygen generation equipment.
Our affiliated faculty members represent all 19 schools and colleges at U-M. This statement is on their behalf, but it is also in support of them. Each of them, and each of us, has cherished friends, colleagues, and often close family members in India. We are all touched by this pandemic; each of us is a part of the continent. As we in the U.S. have begun to emerge from our darkest year in recent memory, may we not rest until we have ensured that our friends in India, and in the rest of the world, are emerging alongside us.
Jatin Dua
Director, Center for South Asian Studies
Associate Professor of Anthropology
