Interfaith Leaders Rally at Khair Community Center After Vandalism; Usharani Negandhi of Phoenixville Remembered

The South Asian and Muslim communities in Phoenixville and the broader Montgomery County area have faced both sorrow and solidarity in recent months. When the Khair Community Center in Upper Providence Township was vandalized with a hateful slur, the response from faith leaders, civic officials, and neighbors across the county was swift and united. The Phoenixville area has also lost one of its own with the passing of Usharani Sampat Negandhi, a devoted grandmother originally from Madras whose life in Pennsylvania touched many families.

🤝 Interfaith Community Rallies Around Khair Community Center After Hateful Vandalism

The Khair Community Center, a mosque located in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, became the focus of a powerful and broad interfaith response after it was targeted with a hateful message. According to 6abc Philadelphia, investigators say a man approached the center's entrance at approximately 11:15 p.m. on a Thursday evening and wrote the word 'terrorist' on the mosque door. A worker discovered the message the following Friday morning and immediately notified the Upper Providence Police Department. In the days that followed, faith leaders, civic officials, and elected representatives from across Montgomery County gathered at the center on a Saturday to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community. Ahmad Bakran, a board member of the Khair Community Center, described the congregation as 'shocked and traumatized' by the incident and called on the broader community to condemn Islamophobia and stand against hatred of all kinds. Speakers at the gathering included Reverend Matthew Arlyck of POWER Interfaith, who reminded the crowd that all religious traditions — Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist — are grounded in love. Ahmet Tekelioglu of CAIR-Philadelphia also attended and expressed gratitude for the strong show of community support. Organizers noted that anti-Muslim incidents across the region had increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict and encouraged mosques and Muslim organizations to take additional security measures, hold community meetings, develop interfaith networks, and build relationships with local law enforcement. For South Asian Muslim families in the Phoenixville and Montgomery County area, the vandalism at Khair was deeply painful, but the wide interfaith response demonstrated that neighbors and local officials were prepared to stand together against hate. [2]

Remembering Usharani Sampat Negandhi, a Devoted Grandmother from Phoenixville

The Phoenixville community mourns the passing of Usharani Sampat Negandhi, who died on Monday, May 23, 2022, at the age of 74, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Born on November 29, 1947, in Madras, the city now known as Chennai, Usha lived a life defined by quiet devotion, warmth, and an abiding love for her family. Her obituary, published by Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home, remembers her as a devoted and loving daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and aunt. Those closest to her knew her by the affectionate name 'didi,' a word that captures the tenderness and closeness she brought to every relationship in her life. She settled in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where she became part of the South Asian community that has taken root in Chester County over the decades. Her journey from Madras to the Philadelphia suburbs is the story of a generation of Indian immigrants who built new lives in America while holding close the culture, language, and values of home. Usha raised her children in the United States and lived to see her grandchildren grow, earning the loving nickname that reflected the deep bond she shared with them. Her passing at 74 leaves a void that family members, friends, and neighbors who knew her through the years will feel deeply. The Life Tributes page created by her family at Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home provides a space for the community to share memories and offer condolences. For the Desi community in Phoenixville and the wider Montgomery and Chester County region, Usharani Negandhi's life stands as a quiet and graceful testament to the strength, sacrifice, and love that first-generation Indian immigrants brought to these communities. Her family invites those who knew her to share a memory in her honor. [3]

Sources: [2] 6abc Philadelphia · [3] Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home