India Post News Service

NEW YORK: An Indian American professor and an Indian student were among the 33 people killed on April 16 at the Virginia Tech University Campus, following a manic shooting spree by a 23-year old student of South Korean descent.

Cho Seung-Hui, who it is now revealed, had a history of mentally troubled behavior, purposefully pumped bullets into classrooms killing 32 people, before committing suicide in the deadliest one-man shooting rampage in recent American history.

Fifty-one year old Professor G.V. Loganathan, was among the first few to be identified among the victims and thereafter it was found that a Mumbai-born student, Minal Panchal, was also killed.

A native of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Loganathan had been working at V-Tech for 15 years. Educated at Madras University and the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, Loganathan received several teaching awards and was considered among the department’s top ten teachers. Loganathan is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Minal used to live there with her widowed mother in Mumbai before she joined V-Tech. She has a married sister who lives in New Jersey.

Reacting proactively to the tragedy, the Indian government, through its Embassy in Washington D.C. promptly extended all help to the bereaved families as well as the vast Indian student fraternity on the V-Tech campus.

Following a decision by Loganathan’s family to conduct his last rites in the US itself, the government of India has facilitated his next-of-kin in Tamil Nadu to travel to the US.

The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India made arrangements to issue passports to nine members of Loganathan’s family and facilitated their visas through the US Consulate in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu government took it upon itself to pay for their air tickets to the US.

In case of Minal, her grief-stricken mother, sister and brother-in-law who live in New Jersey were at hand to claim her body when it was released by the authorities. Although she hailed from Mumbai, since Minal belonged to the Gujarati community, the Indian Embassy has been in touch with the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra to ensure them all assistance should they decide to transport her body back to India and conduct her last rights in either of the states.

As the shock and horror of the massacre begins to sink in, survivors, victims’ families and the rest of the student fraternity are looking for avenues to heal their emotional wounds.

Two Indian Embassy officials – Krishan Varma, Minister (Consular) and Anil Gupta, Minister (Community Affairs) — had rushed to Virginia Tech University the day after the carnage, to assist the families of the deceased Indians.

At a meeting arranged by the University authorities, the Embassy officials met with members of the Indian Students Association of V-Tech (ISA) to understand their needs if they had any, and more importantly to make them aware of the assistance they could seek from the Embassy in such cases.

According to Rahul Chhabra who is in charge of press information at the Indian Embassy, most of the nearly hundred Indian students who met with the officials were not aware of how to be in touch with the Embassy in cases of such exigencies. "We just wanted to assure them that we are there for them if they need us," Chhabra told India Post.

Chhabra said, the initial shock having passed, the Indian students "seemed okay" having consoled themselves that it was a "one-off incident."

Of the nearly 26,000 students at V-Tech, there are 700 Indian students, who have, since the tragic incident, banded together for moral support.

In an emailed note to India Post, Ajitpal Singh Raina, President of ISA, on behalf of Team ISA, said, "We at ISA appreciate your response and are thankful for your support. We would like to inform you that as seen in the news channels the situation on campus is very much under control now, and the authorities have done a marvelous job at providing safe evacuation. The ISA is out there helping the students and concerned parents in all ways possible."

The ISA website, which has come to be a major source of updates for the Indian students on the campus and their parents, says, "In the coming days and weeks, the Indian Students Association at Virginia Tech, will join our community in mourning the sad events as we begin the process of healing."

"We are saddened at the loss of two members of the Indian community – Dr. Loganathan and Minal Panchal. Dr. Loganathan, a Professor at the Charles Edward Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a recipient of the prestigious Wine Award for excellence in teaching, will be remembered for his scholarship, dedication to teaching, and his contribution to the larger community here at Virginia Tech."

"Ms. Panchal was a first year graduate student in the College of Architecture and urban Planning. She was an active participant at ISA events and will be dearly missed by fellow students."

Further, ISA says on its website: "The ISA would like to reassure our family, friends and loved-ones back home, of the strong sense of safety and security felt by the Indian community here in Blacksburg, CA. University officials are committed to security for all and Blacksburg continues to be a safe place."

"The Indian community at Virginia Tech is united. Together, we are strong and resilient, and will continue to support each other in the coming weeks."

In the spirit of solidarity, the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC)’s Youth Committee met with Virginia Tech’s Indian Student Association President Ajitpal Singh Raina, ISA advisor Dr. Kumar Mallikarjunan and other ISA representatives to offer support and comfort.

USINPAC Youth Committee works on encouraging Indian Americans on campuses across the country to participate in the political process, and will now also engage with policy makers to commit increased investments in safety and communications in schools and universities.

At the USINPAC meeting, Dr. Mallikarjunan recalled his colleague Prof. Loganathan, who died doing what he did best – impart the highest quality education. "He was a very distinguished teacher and a humble man," Dr Mallikarjunan said. "He was respected by both his students and his peers… this is such a terrible loss to the university and community."

Raina recalled how Minal would actively participate in ISA’s activities and events. "She was present and helpful at many of our events," he said.

Raina further said the ISA would mobilize community support for the families of the two Indian victims and also to other Indian students who may be discomforted.

Verma also addressed campus safety issues with the ISA Board and other faculty, emphasizing that USINPAC endorsed devoting increased resources to campus safety and supporting tactical strategies to bolster internal communications during emergencies. "Our response to this tragedy should be multi-fold. Even as we tackle policy issues involving campus safety, students should also rigorously engage in tackling our ‘culture of violence’," he said.

 To that end, USINPAC Youth Committee announced it will unveil a campus safety initiative that will task Indian students on campuses around the nation to promote increased safety measures through discussions with faculty, deans and college administrators. The effort will seek to produce a comprehensive report about safety precautions and preventative strategies against campus violence, including murder and sexual assault.