thedrifter
08-17-07, 03:01 PM
Edison veterans get apology after flag removal for India Day
Friday, August 17, 2007
BY SULEMAN DIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Edison officials apologized yesterday to veterans angered by an ethnic ceremony held at town hall earlier this week in which the POW/MIA flag was removed from a pole so the Indian tricolor could fly below the American flag.
"There was never any intention to disrespect or dishonor veterans, or any group of people," Mayor Jun Choi said. "We have enormous respect for the tremendous sacrifices made by our veterans and the servicemen and women currently defending our freedoms."
To mark India's 60th independence anniversary from Britain, Choi, several senior Edison police officials and more than 100 Asian-Indians gathered Wednesday at a granite monument that honors the 49 Edison residents killed in the two world wars and the Korean War.
The Indian flag was raised in the place where the POW/MIA flag normally flies, and the POW/MIA flag was moved temporarily to a nearby pole outside the police headquarters section of town hall. A dozen veteran supporters showed up to loudly denounce the flag-raising.
Choi said the removal "was not proper" and that Edison would maintain proper flag etiquette in the future.
Veterans groups will be meeting with Choi tomorrow morning to discuss their concerns about the ceremony, New Jersey American Legion Adjutant Raymond L. Zawacki said.
Zawacki's organization initially asked Edison about its plans for the ceremony and yesterday sent its municipal officials a guide on flag etiquette.
"I don't think it was intentional," Zawacki said. "But I think sometimes people and officials don't fully understand. You can't just treat veterans groups or their symbols as another cultural group."
Flag experts said Edison didn't do anything illegal by taking down the POW/MIA flag, but it did break other rules of good flag manners during the ceremony.
When Edison flew the American flag over the Indian flag on the same pole, that violated flag code, said Peter Ansoff, president of the North American Vexillological Association, which studies flags.
"You don't fly one nation's flag over another nation's flag, that's just poor etiquette," he said. "It's an old tradition dating back to the 18th century. When you captured an enemy ship, you flew their flag under yours. It's asserting your superiority. It's not very nice."
After the ceremony, municipal workers put the POW/MIA flag back in its original position under the American flag on the pole and then placed the Indian flag beneath the two.
That was another gaffe, Ansoff said, explaining nation's flags must fly separately, and at the same height and size. "The POW/MIA flag is not a national flag," he said. "India is a country like any other, and its flag deserves respect."
There is no law on how the POW/MIA flag should be displayed, Ansoff said, just suggestions. In New Jersey, the statute concerning the flag only says it must be flown in front of a municipality's primary building.
Choi said the ceremony was intended only to recognize the contributions of Edison's Asian-Indian community.
Edison, the fifth-largest municipality in New Jersey, is 30 percent Asian, according to U.S. Census figures from 2000.
The head of the Asian-Indian group attending the ceremony said his members were bewildered by the protests.
"We thought the ceremony was good for the community," said Harshad Desai, president of the Indo American Council of Seniors of Edison. "We always thought, everyone else does this, why don't we have one?"
The anger over the ceremony is an example of the misunderstandings that occur with an influx of new immigrants into a community, said James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Public Planning and Policy at Rutgers University.
"It's the same type of clashes when you had Irish coming into the cities preceded by English," Hughes said. "People do have different values and points of view. Certainly there will be disagreements."
Ansoff said flags are fascinating because of the emotions they can stir.
"They are just pieces of colored cloth," Ansoff said. "But people get attached to flags, and risk their lives for them."
Suleman Din may be reached at sdin@starledger.com or (732) 404-8084.
Ellie
Friday, August 17, 2007
BY SULEMAN DIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Edison officials apologized yesterday to veterans angered by an ethnic ceremony held at town hall earlier this week in which the POW/MIA flag was removed from a pole so the Indian tricolor could fly below the American flag.
"There was never any intention to disrespect or dishonor veterans, or any group of people," Mayor Jun Choi said. "We have enormous respect for the tremendous sacrifices made by our veterans and the servicemen and women currently defending our freedoms."
To mark India's 60th independence anniversary from Britain, Choi, several senior Edison police officials and more than 100 Asian-Indians gathered Wednesday at a granite monument that honors the 49 Edison residents killed in the two world wars and the Korean War.
The Indian flag was raised in the place where the POW/MIA flag normally flies, and the POW/MIA flag was moved temporarily to a nearby pole outside the police headquarters section of town hall. A dozen veteran supporters showed up to loudly denounce the flag-raising.
Choi said the removal "was not proper" and that Edison would maintain proper flag etiquette in the future.
Veterans groups will be meeting with Choi tomorrow morning to discuss their concerns about the ceremony, New Jersey American Legion Adjutant Raymond L. Zawacki said.
Zawacki's organization initially asked Edison about its plans for the ceremony and yesterday sent its municipal officials a guide on flag etiquette.
"I don't think it was intentional," Zawacki said. "But I think sometimes people and officials don't fully understand. You can't just treat veterans groups or their symbols as another cultural group."
Flag experts said Edison didn't do anything illegal by taking down the POW/MIA flag, but it did break other rules of good flag manners during the ceremony.
When Edison flew the American flag over the Indian flag on the same pole, that violated flag code, said Peter Ansoff, president of the North American Vexillological Association, which studies flags.
"You don't fly one nation's flag over another nation's flag, that's just poor etiquette," he said. "It's an old tradition dating back to the 18th century. When you captured an enemy ship, you flew their flag under yours. It's asserting your superiority. It's not very nice."
After the ceremony, municipal workers put the POW/MIA flag back in its original position under the American flag on the pole and then placed the Indian flag beneath the two.
That was another gaffe, Ansoff said, explaining nation's flags must fly separately, and at the same height and size. "The POW/MIA flag is not a national flag," he said. "India is a country like any other, and its flag deserves respect."
There is no law on how the POW/MIA flag should be displayed, Ansoff said, just suggestions. In New Jersey, the statute concerning the flag only says it must be flown in front of a municipality's primary building.
Choi said the ceremony was intended only to recognize the contributions of Edison's Asian-Indian community.
Edison, the fifth-largest municipality in New Jersey, is 30 percent Asian, according to U.S. Census figures from 2000.
The head of the Asian-Indian group attending the ceremony said his members were bewildered by the protests.
"We thought the ceremony was good for the community," said Harshad Desai, president of the Indo American Council of Seniors of Edison. "We always thought, everyone else does this, why don't we have one?"
The anger over the ceremony is an example of the misunderstandings that occur with an influx of new immigrants into a community, said James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Public Planning and Policy at Rutgers University.
"It's the same type of clashes when you had Irish coming into the cities preceded by English," Hughes said. "People do have different values and points of view. Certainly there will be disagreements."
Ansoff said flags are fascinating because of the emotions they can stir.
"They are just pieces of colored cloth," Ansoff said. "But people get attached to flags, and risk their lives for them."
Suleman Din may be reached at sdin@starledger.com or (732) 404-8084.
Ellie