CRIME: Desi Prof Among Virginia Tech Victims

G.V. Loganathan (see his bio), an Indian-American professor, is among the dead in the biggest U.S. massacre - the killings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.

From CNN-IBN:

Professor G.V. Loganathan of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was teaching in a class in the Norris Hall – one of the crime scenes – when the gunman went on rampage.
<snip>
According to Raman, Loganathan was taking a lecture when the second shooting occurred. He was killed around 0915 hrs (local time), Raman confirmed.

See two videos from CNN-IBN below. See report from Rediff about the victim's family . UPDATE: See NYT profile, from April 18, 2007.

See SepiaMutiny coverage and comments by SM readers. See the site of the Indian Students Association, which will continue to have updates.

Post your comments and updates below - any other South Asians involved?

Update from Gitesh Pandya: President of the student govt is a desi, Adeel Khan. You've probably seen him interviewed on CNN and elsewhere. He's been a major media spokesman for the students of the school. http://www.sga.vt.edu/

HISTORY: Desi connections to previous U.S./Canada mass shootings:

• Sept. 12, 2006: Kimveer Gill kills one and injures 19 at Montreal's Dawson College.
• May 9, 2003: Biswanath Halder kills one and injures two at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University.

[ Speaking of shootings on at a science campus, a reminder about the Dec. 28, 2005, shootings at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - an attack carried out by terrorists ]

The following essay, by Prof. Ramesh Rao of Longwood University, was provided to SAJAforum. It will run as his UPI column later this week.

UPDATE/CORRECTION  - April 18, 2007 - from Ramesh Rao:

My essay yesterday identified Minal Panchal as a Central Florida University
student, based on a quick Google search.

This morning's news, while confirming the death of Minal Panchal, identifies
the victim as a Mumbai girl who was doing her architecture degree.  I do not
believe the Google search based identity is correct.

Please see news item about the victim Minal Panchal.

Ramesh Rao

Death of a Lord of the Universe
By Ramesh Rao

Bloody Monday will darken and bruise Virginia Tech forever, and at this
point in time, early in the development of the story of the horrific
massacre that consumed the lives of 33 people, there is only the numbness
from shock that this "monumental" tragedy has induced, and there is the
chatter of television in the background.

A Lord of the Universe died Monday: Prof. G. V. Loganathan, a 51-year-old
Civil and Environmental Engineering professor from India was one of the
victims.  Loganathan translates from Sanskrit (Loka = universe, Natha =
Lord) to English as "Lord of the Universe."  I did not know Prof.
Loganathan.  And as I write this I am also scrolling through the
Indian-American news portals that inform me that the professor's family -
brothers, sisters-in-law, and father-in-law will be traveling from India to
Blacksburg to attend the funeral. 

This is a quick update about one of the 33 victims yesterday.   

There was another Indian victim, and it was a student named Minal Panchal
from Mumbai (Bombay).  There is nothing that the newspapers are reporting
about Minal, but Google tells me that she attended Central Florida
University and was a member of Sigma Gamma Tau, the National Honor Society
in Aerospace Engineering. 

One expects a strong Indian contingent in any engineering college in the
U.S., and I remember my visit to Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa, and
surprised to hear that there were nearly 500 Indian students studying at
that engineering university, and somewhat similar numbers at Purdue
University.

Focusing on individual stories softens the impact of the horror somewhat.
That is one way of coping that students of Virginia Tech will be counseled
to do.  There will be grieving, there will be the "why us" questions.  There
will be the voracious appetite of television and the media to pursue the
five W's and one H (who, where, what, when, why, and how).  I speculate that television in such times could indeed provide the necessary distraction and act as pacifier for the nation in general and for the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg communities in specific.

Every pastor, every minister, every counselor in high schools and colleges,
and every pundit and pop-psychologist will be kept busy in the near future
trying to provide answers to difficult and even impossible questions.  And
unlike Wittgenstein's advice to us, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one
must be silent" (translated: what can be said at all can be said clearly,
and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence), lesser beings
will urge us to talk, to try and fathom what cannot be fathomed.

This will be the time too when the near and dear ones cry out in anguish for
God and against God, at one moment seeking solace in the idea of love and
transcendence, and at another battling dark despair and violent anger.
Services will be held, the Bible opened and quoted, and assurances dispensed
of safe passage to heaven of the departed.  And I will expect Larry King
tonight, or in the next couple of days, to assemble a panel of Catholic and
Protestant spokespersons, a Rabbi and an Imam, and rope in Deepak Chopra to
represent whatever he represents, to ask the questions about death and life,
and life after death that he has asked at least a dozen times before.  They
will tell their homilies, ask us to not despair, and we will go back to what
we are and what we will continue to be.
However, if Deepak Chopra remembers his Mahabharata, the great Indian epic,
should tell American viewers about Arjuna on the battlefield, despairing of
having to do battle with his kith and kin, and asking Lord Krishna to reveal
His true Being: "O Lord, if you think me able to behold it, then, O master
of yogis, reveal to me your Immutable Self."  Lord Krishna as "Vishwarupa"
or the "Cosmic Man" reveals Himself to Arjuna, and Arjuna exclaims, "In The
body, O Lord, I behold all the gods and all the diverse hosts of beings --
Lord Brahma, seated on the lotus, all the patriarchs and the celestial
serpents.  I behold Thee with myriad arms and bellies, with myriad faces and
eyes; I behold Thee, infinite in form, on every side, but I see not Thy end
nor Thy middle nor Thy beginning.  O Lord of the Universe, O Universal Form!
On all sides glowing like a mass of radiance I behold Thee, with Thy diadem,
mace, and discus, blazing everywhere like burning fire and the burning sun,
passing all measure and difficult to behold. Thou art the Supreme Support of
the Universe; Thou art the undying Guardian of the Eternal Law; Thou art, in
my belief, the Primal Being."
But is the Cosmic Being just shining and benign?  Arjuna doubts, and he sees
Lord Krishna, the next moment in this manner: "When I look upon Thy blazing
form reaching to the skies and shining with many colors, when I see Thee
with Thy mouth opened wide and Thy great eyes glowing bright, my inmost soul
trembles in fear, and I find neither courage nor peace, O Vishnu! When I
behold Thy mouths, striking terror with their tusks, like Time's
all-consuming fire, I am disoriented and find no peace.  Be gracious, O Lord
of the Gods, O Abode of the Universe!  All these sons of Dhritarashtra,
together with the hosts of monarchs, and Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, and the
warrior chiefs of our side as well, enter precipitately thy tusked and
terrible mouths, frightful to behold.  Some are seen caught between Thy
teeth, their heads crushed to powder.  As the torrents of many rivers rush
toward the ocean, so do the heroes of the mortal world rush into Thy
fiercely flaming mouths.  As mouths rush swiftly into a blazing fire to
perish there, even so do these creatures swiftly rush into Thy mouths to
their own destruction.  Thou lickest Thy lips, devouring all the worlds on
every side with Thy flaming mouths.  Thy fiery rays fill the whole universe
with their radiance and scorch it, O Vishnu!  Tell me who Thou art, that
wearest this frightful form.  Salutations to Thee, O God Supreme!  Have
mercy.  I desire to know Thee, who art the Primal One; for I do not
understand Thy purpose." (http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/DD40/)

Hindus also have their Goddess Kali with her necklace of human skulls,
tongue red with blood.  How can that be Brahman, or the cosmic being,
Christians will ask: isn't God loving, forgiving, and kind? 

These are the questions, and these are the paradoxes that we will all be
dealing with in the next few days.  But whereof we cannot speak, thereof we
must be silent.

Comments

[Judi Silva]

What a sad day in US history. My heart goes out to Professor Loganathan's family and friends, as well as to all the other victims, along with their friends and families.

My blog space carried this sad news this morning too.

[Lurker]

There was another post on Sepia Mutiny besides what you linked, it was the first one about the tragedy and it dealt with how some tried to immediately blame desis for it:

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004346.html

Almost 200 comments.

[Lurker]

There was another post on Sepia Mutiny besides what you linked, it was the first one about the tragedy and it dealt with how some tried to immediately blame desis for it:

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004346.html

Almost 200 comments.

[Maariya]

A couple of people who posted comments at the above SM link cleared up what I was going to mention. In in the US, the term Asian generally refers to those of East Asian descent. In the UK it is completely different where the term Asian generally refers to Desis. In the US Desis are generally referred to as South Asians as we all know. Watching and reading the news, I did not get the impression at all that they were alluding to accusing a Desi. If the shooter was infact Desi, eye witnesses would definitely have made a note of that.

This story brought chills down my spine. Knowing that this could have happened at any college campus. I just finished college last semester, and up until this news, I always felt like I was safest when I lived on campus. I don't feel that way anymore. I have younger siblings about to start college and now I fear for their safety. It's hard to watch the news about this with out crying. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the family and friends of the victims.

[Maariya]

Here's a video from the Today Show interviewing a family member of one of the other confirmed Desi casualties, Reema Samaha:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=59c523de-4480-4764-8673-bcc1ad15c24f&f=00&fg=

[Jaya Kamlani]

My prayers are with the victims and their families. Such a grave tragedy. So many young did not have a chance to live out their lives.

Meanwhile, here is some latest news on new threats:

“Threats rattle 3 universities, 2 schools”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_us/university_bomb_threat

AUSTIN, Texas - Campus threats forced lock-downs and evacuations at universities in Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee and two public schools in Louisiana on Tuesday, a day after a Virginia Tech student's shooting rampage killed 33 people. In Louisiana, parents picked up hundreds of students from Bogalusa's high school and middle school amid reports that a man had been arrested Tuesday morning for threatening a mass killing in a note that alluded to the murders at Virginia Tech.

"The note referred to what happened at Virginia Tech," Payne said. "It said something like, 'If you think that was bad, then you haven't seen anything yet." In Austin, authorities evacuated buildings at St. Edward's University after a threatening note was found, a school official said.......

Jaya Kamlani

[Jaya Kamlani]

News Update: “Threats rattle schools in 7 states”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_us/university_bomb_threat

“AUSTIN, Texas - Campus threats forced lock-downs and evacuations at universities and grade schools in seven states on Tuesday, a day after a Virginia Tech student's shooting rampage killed 33 people.

One threat in Louisiana directly mentioned the massacre in Virginia, while others were reports of suspicious activity in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan.”

Jaya Kamlani

[Nirav Rajpara]

This is such a tradegy and a loss for all people. As a professor myself, I shared with my students that society needs to do everything possible to create safe learning environments.

[meerar]

Did anyone find the anchor's tactic in eliciting the name of the second victim objectionable? I did, especially in light of the fact that the authorities had not, at that time, released the names of the victims in order to protect the families.

Also, did anyone notice the fact that the anchor deftly concluded that "two Indians were involved" in the shooting, even in the absence of official confirmation?

Meera

[Jaya Kamlani]

Why aren’t we debating GUN CONTROL and current U.S. Gun Laws on the SAJA Forum? After the Virginia Tech tragedy, this issue must have been on everyone’s mind.

Please read the following news article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070421/lf_afp/uscrimeshootinghandgunscontrol

“US gun debate rages after Virginia Tech, NASA shootings”
BLACKSBURG, United States (AFP) - Debate raged anew Saturday over gun controls in the United States after reports said that Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui should not have been able to legally buy guns due to his mental health history....

In rural areas like the rolling hills that surround Virginia Tech, guns and hunting are an established way of life, and there is spare support for an overhaul of gun laws. Indeed, gun purchases, and especially requests for state permits to carry concealed weapons, are up since the massacre Monday, according to anecdotal reports from gun dealers and pawn shops....

Jaya Kamlani

[Jaya Kamlani]

News on Gun Control:

'Bloomberg Gun Giveaway' draws hundreds

ANNANDALE, Va. - Openly armed firearms enthusiasts packed a normally sedate government building, hoping to win a pistol or rifle and at the same time send a defiant message to gun-control advocates, especially New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, organized Thursday night's "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" in large part to thumb its nose at Bloomberg, who accuses some shops of allowing illegal purchases of firearms that later were used in crimes in his city. The city has filed federal lawsuits against more than two dozen shops, including six in Virginia….

The event drew protests from gun-control advocates and the parents of those killed in last month's shootings at Virginia Tech… Many in attendance said they were motivated not by the chance of a free gun, but to make a point to Bloomberg and express support for the Second Amendment. "It'd be nice if I win, but that's not what this is about. It's about my constitutional right to defend myself," said Ron Stuebing, a league member… Asked Thursday about the giveaway, Bloomberg said, "I think it's sick, is the nicest ways to phrase it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_re_us/gun_giveaway (full story)

Jaya Kamlani

[jackkatewinslet]

G.V. Loganathan who is an Indian-American professor is among the dead in the biggest U.S. massacre - the killings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.Ifell so sad and He is one of the great professor...he loved his students...i pray to the god form him to make his soul peace and make his family to come out of the shock soon.........
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jackkatewinslet
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[davidjones]

G.V.Loganathan received one of Virginia Tech's prestigious three 'Wine Awards for Excellence in Teaching.'In Norris Hall on campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, on the morning of April 16, the much-respected 51-year-old Chennaiborn instructor was doing what he loved to do - teaching his students. Loganathan's career was cut tragically short, when he became one of the 32 victims of the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.
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David Jones

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