Source: The Astoria Times
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11065668&BRD=1079&PAG=461&dept_id=506458&rfi=6
On March 4, 2004 The Astoria Times reported, "A co-founder of the annual Phagwah Parade dismissed concerns among Richmond Hill and Ozone Park civic leaders who are afraid the use of celebratory powders and liquids could serve as cover for a possible terrorist attack. Ramesh Kalicharran, who adapted the India parade in Manhattan to include Guyanese influences in 1990, said residents’ fears that parade participants could substitute anthrax or other lethal powdery substances for the official abrack, a pinkish powder, come from a lack of understanding. 'This is all tradition, 5,000 years old,'Kalicharran said. 'The themes (of Phagwah) are the triumph of good over evil and a commemoration of spring."