President George W. Bush did not attend the Diwali celebration hosted by the White House on November 10th. Unlike last year, when the presidsent was in Hawaii en route to East Asia, Bush was at the White House this time.

He did not drop in, despite the efforts of some leading Indian-American Republican leaders and fundraisers for his re-election campaign. The leaders – Dr. Raghavendra, chairman at the Indian American Republican Council Vijayangar, board member Akshay Desai, and Vice Chair Sampat Shivangi – expected to personally congratulate Bush on his re-election.

Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political adviser and architect of his victory over Senator John F. Kerry, did not attend either. Rove was part of the first Diwali celebration at the White House last year.

The more than 120 guests at the Old Executive Office Building had to make do with former U.S. ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill. Blackwill has been the White House National Security Council point man on Iraq since August 2003. November 10th was his last day at work for the President.

Many guests expressed disappointment over Bush’s non-appearance. One guest asked Blackwill how the president could host a White House Iftar “for Pakistani Muslims” the same evening and skip Diwali with the Indian-American community, which had supported his re-election and raised millions of dollars for him.

Blackwill replied the Iftar dinner was not exclusively for Pakistani Muslims but for ambassadors of Islamic nations and Muslim-American community leaders from around the country. He joked that no Indian function could be complete without the “P word,” [Pakistan].

He defended Pakistan’s role as a U.S. ally in the war on terror. He acknowledged that the war could not be won unless terrorism was eradicated completely, including the cross-border terrorism into India.

Blackwill’s 20-minute speech and half-hour question-and-answer session were filled with praise for “Mother India” and for Indian Americans. There was sustained applause when he described Bobby Jindal’s election to the U.S. House of Representatives as “a very proud moment” for the Indian American community.

Blackwill lauded the growing U.S.-India ties and said it was imperative for India to take on its role as a global entity and play an important role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Blackwill is rumored to be in the running for National Security Advisor. Condoleezza Rice is expected to become Secretary of State or Defense Secretary when the president appoints his cabinet.

When not fending off questions on why the president couldn’t spare a few minutes to walk across to the Old Executive Office Building, Blackwill assured those who asked that no decision had been made on supplying F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. He promised the President would visit India in the first year of his second term in office. He said the President was to visit India two years ago, but postponed the trip due to tension between India and Pakistan.

He said the president was busy with many issues such as monitoring the situation in Iraq and reorganizing his Cabinet. The reshuffle was one reason he could not attend Diwali festivities, Blackwill said. The Iftar had been planned months ahead and the President had made a commitment to host the event, he added.

Sources said that the Iftar was a deliberate decision. They said that it was because Muslim Americans, unlike in 2000, voted against Bush this year, incensed over the war in Iraq and domestic concerns like racial profiling post-9/11. The Iftar was the White House’s attempt at reaching out to them and the ambassadors of the Muslim world, to garner support for the administration’s policy in Iraq, they added.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at the Iftar, “Tonight is really a time to honor all Muslims.” Members of the Muslim American community, ambassadors of Islamic countries and diplomats of nations with larger Muslim populations attended the dinner. Ambassador Ronan Sen represented India.

“The Muslim community makes America stronger and more hopeful because of their contributions. And the President will have ambassadors here, as well as Muslim American leaders here, in the White House. And I think he’ll talk more about the time period we’re in now with Ramadan and how we honor the traditions of this great faith by hosting the Iftar dinner at the White House,” McClellan said.

The hosts for the Diwali celebration were Neal Patel, a senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, and Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, a former White House Fellow dealing with domestic security in the National Security Council.

They spoke of the growing involvement of the Indian-American community in the political process in the country. The festivities began with the lighting of the lamp and an invocation by Anant Ram Bachan, professor of religion at St. Olaf College, Minnesota.

He explained the significance of the lamp “which signifies the light of hope and happiness.” There was a reading of President Bush’s Diwali message conveying greetings from him and First Lady Laura Bush on “a joyous occasion as the festival of lights,” and a time when “good triumphs over evil.”

At the end of the hour-long ceremony, White House staff escorted guests to the Presidential Personnel Office. Sweets and vegetarian snacks were served. Former president of the Association of Indian Americans, Piyush Agrawal, presented each guest with a silver coin. It had an image of Lakshmi and Saraswati on one said and the inscription “Diwali at the White House, November 10, 2004” on the other.

Community leaders and activists at the celebration included Dr. Krishna Reddy, president of the Indian American Friendship Council, Nilesh Mehta, president-elect of the Indian American Forum for Political Education, Rajen Anand, president of the National Federation of Indian American Associations, and Dr. Jagan Ailnani, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.