“In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. … And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Our nation was founded by exceptional Founders who dared to reach immortal ideals, and harnessing the reality of human folly and vices in 11 short years devised a unique engine – that separated power – so as to form a more perfect union. Both in 1776 and 1787, our nation’s name was united “States of America,” and we were united, and earned that powerful adjective in full measure on September 14, 1814 at Fort McHenry, when everyday Americans kept our Stars & Stripes flying high despite heavy bombardment, witnessing which, lawyer Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Today, post 9/11 and even worse, post-January 6th and Kabul, before we can unite our nation, we must be worthy of this exceptional nation bequeath to each of us in equal measure. And to be so worthy, we must rediscover the value judgment embedded in the sequence of that hallowed Pledge collateralizing the Declaration of Independence: “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” with Honor being most precious of all, and Appeasement is nowhere to be found.
Do you know where your Honor is?
Maybe, it’s time to rediscover our individual and collective Honor, so we can promote “united” from today’s false noun to an honest adjective. Our nation’s future depends on it, and the world needs us to be Abraham Lincoln’s “Government…for the people,” Teddy Roosevelt’s “walk softly and carry a big stick,” FDR’s unequivocal response to “a date which will live in infamy,” JFK’s “ask not what your country can do for you…,” and Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on the hill.” Our current “entitlement mentality“ robs our children and grandchildren, as “special interest” robs the “public good.”
As publishers, we pledge our sacred honor that The America Times – a name we desired, and Tejinder Singh accepted and reserved – will publish news and commentary – without fear or favor – in the finest tradition of independent journalism; this includes publishing views we disagree with. Finally, with this inaugural issue, we are honoring Tejinder’s multi-year desire for us to be publishers. The Dream continues.
September 11, 2021
Ranju Batra & Ravi Batra
Ranju Batra
Ranju’s campaign for the Diwali Stamp was supported by many, including, Rep. Carolyn Maloney who authored two Congressional Resolutions, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Eliot Engel, Rep. Greg W. Meeks, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Grace Meng, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay who wrote the Official Poem for the Diwali Stamp Project, and many diplomats and their families, including, Palestine’s Amb. Riyad Mansour, now India’s Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and founding Executive Director of U.N. Women, A/S Lakshmi Puri. As president of the Association of Indians in America-New York during 2011–2012, she celebrated the 25th Silver Diwali in New York City, including, a history-making gala dinner at The Pierre, where United Nations Security Council Amb. Abdullah Hussain Haroon, of Pakistan, and Amb. Puri, of India, of India, jointly participated to celebrate Diwali. Her hard work to grow the Diwali celebration in 2011 was recognized by “The New York Times” as the largest such celebration in North America with “over 200,000” attendees. Ranju has excelled and made a difference with her excellence-with-humility approach in helping to “form a more perfect nation.” Her exemplary service to society has been duly recorded and celebrated with numerous awards, citations, proclamations and Congressional Records. She regularly interacts with the multilateral diplomatic community, and during the High Level UNGA Debate, with heads of State/Government.
Ravi Batra, Esq.
Ravi Batra, starting September 11, 2021, is a publisher of The America Times Company Ltd., and since January 2022, is the Editor-in-Chief. He is a member of the National Press Club, in Washington D.C., and a member of its "Freedom of the Press" and "International Correspondents" Teams/Committees.
A member of the bar since 1981, he is the head of a boutique law firm in Manhattan, The Law Firm of Ravi Batra, P.C., that handles complex constitutional, sovereignty, torture, civil and criminal cases, representing governments, corporates and individuals, with landmark legal victories, including, libel in fiction, in “Batra v. Dick Wolf.” He is Chairman & CEO, Greenstar Global Energy Corp., King Danylo of Galicia International Ltd., Mars & Pax Advisors, Ltd., Chairman of National Advisory Council on South Asian Affairs, and since September 2021, Advisor for Legal and Humanitarian Affairs to the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations. He is invited by various governments to address High Level Ministerial events, including, on Counter-Terrorism, including, Astana (Nur-Sultan), Dushanbe, Minsk and Delhi. He has testified in Congress as an invitee of the Chair, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and interacted with U.S. Department of State from 1984 -1990, and then again, from 2006, during the tenures of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo and Antony Blinken.
He has served as Commissioner of New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), Trustee on New York State IOLA Board, New York State Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Judicial Department, City Bar’s Judicial Committee, Vice-Chair of Kings County Democratic County Committee’s Independent Judicial Screening Committee for the then-2nd Judicial Department of Brooklyn and Staten Island, Chair of NYSTLA’ Judicial Independence Committee, with many more bar leadership roles, including, NYSBA’s House of Delegates for four years. He has served as Advisor for Legal & Human Rights Affairs to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine post-annexation of Crimea till 2021, and Legal Advisor to numerous nations’ permanent missions to the U. N. since 2009, including, India, Pakistan, Honduras and Malta. He has served: as Global Special Counsel to The Antonov Company in Ukraine, a state-owned company, and was registered with the Justice Dept pursuant to FARA; and as Special Global Advisor to Rector/President of both - National Aviation University of Ukraine and National Technical University of Ukraine/KPI. He remains involved in geopolitics and public policy since the mid-1980's, starting with being on House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s Speaker’s Club and appointed member of NACSAA during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure. In 1988, he was part of U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese’s Delegation to Japan to resolve bilateral trade imbalance. He regularly interacts with the multilateral diplomatic community, and during the High Level UNGA Debate, with heads of State/Government. He is sought for his views as a speaker and writer.