In 1961, the Indian community was very small, not even 50,000 in the USA. No Indian American made any request for the issuance of any stamp with Indian personality or object. But the U.S. Postal Service issued two stamps on January 26, 1961, 4 cent first class postage stamp and 8 cent postage stamp to honor Mahatma Gandhi in the “Champion of Liberty” series. The stamp had picture of Gandhi Ji and carried the wording, “Mahatma Gandhi, Apostle of Non-Violence.” Four cent stamps were printed 113 millions and 8 cent stamps were printed 41,644,200.

—Inder Singh regularly writes and speaks on Indian Diaspora. He is the author of The Gadar Heroics – life sketches of over 50 Gadar heroes. He is Exceutive Trustee of GOPIO Foundation, was chairman of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin from 2009-16 and president from 2004-2009, chairman of National Federation of Indian American Associations(NFIA) from 1992-96 and president from 1988-92. He was founding president of Federation of Indian Associations in Southern California. He can be reached at indersingh-usa@hotmail.com