Aditya Tawatia 1Surrey: The British Columbia chapter of Overseas Friends of Bhartiya Janta Party (OfBJP) will celebrate India’s 67th Independence Day on Aug 15 at Bombay Banquet Hall. Speaking with Asian Journal, Aditya Tawatia, President of OfBJP British Columbia Chapter said that, “we are delighted to host a cultural event that will represent India on its 67th Independence day and this event becomes even more important because of the fact that we recently had a change of government at centre in India where BJP came to power with overwhelming majority. The new Prime Minister’s focus is on improving India’s relations with its neighbours and other countries. Canada has one of the largest concentrations of Indians outside India and holds an important position in India’s foreign policy.”

Aditya says, “The event will begin at 6:30 pm with Flag Hoisting ceremony, followed by cultural programs and formal sit down dinner. Consul General Ravi Shankar Aisola will be the Chief Guest at the event. The main purpose of the event is to celebrate the independence and to pay homage of great freedom fighters like Shaeed Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subash Chander Bose, Sukhdev and Rajguru.”

Aditya further added that the global president of OfBJP and convener of overseas affairs of BJP, Vijay Jolly has agreed to be the Guest of Honor at the event. When asked about his expectations from the event, Aditya said, “we are expecting huge turnout of Indians living in the Lower Mainland areas to celebrate the Independence Day and I would request Indian origin residents living in here to participate in great numbers to make it a great success.”

He also added, “I thank all my OfBJP members who have been working tirelessly to make this event a success. With this event we aim to become a bridge between the Indo Canadians and their homeland and want to be the messenger of their voice to the Indian government.  We at OfBJP are delighted that Shri. Vijay Jolly has agreed to join us for the celebrations as this is first Independence day after BJP formed the government and Mr. Jolly who has charge of 50 other OfBJP chapters across the world chose to  grace the event in Vancouver as the