Habib M. Habib (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)
Congressman Jim McDermott hosted his annual “Celebrating Our Roots” Festival on Sunday, March 17, celebrating his district’s diversity and honoring two community leaders, Habib M. Habib and Debadutta Dash, both co-chairs of the Washington State and India Trade Relations Action Committee (WASITRAC). The festival is held each year in March near St. Patrick’s Day. The festival features “Irish” potato appetizers and desserts, earning it the name “Annual Potato Festival.”
Established in 2007, WASITRAC is a nonprofit trade advocacy group that has been instrumental in facilitating two trade missions to India in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, the group organized the first Washington State Summit on U.S.–India Trade and Commerce at the Seattle Center.
From left: Congressman Jim McDermott, Debadutta Dash, daughter Ina Dash, and wife Itu Dash (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)
Dash is also the current president of the board for the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) and the chair of the Economic Development Committee for the Washington State Commission on Asian and Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA). Habib has been the Treasurer of the Washington State Democrats for more than a decade and is also a past chair of both ACRS and CAPAA. (end)