A new Indian American initiative on the Hill

[Guest guest]

A new Indian American initiative on the Hill

S Rajagopalan

Washington, February 1

 

Indian Americans are slowly but surely beginning to make their

presence felt on Capitol Hill. One of the newest formations to

attract attention is the US India Political Action Committee

(USINPAC). The group is projecting itself as "a united, strong and

clear voice representing the Indian American community on Capitol

Hill and the White House". A bipartisan formation, its stated mission

is to impact on policy matters of concern to the Indian American

community.

 

Doubting Thomases may dismiss it as a case of beginner's enthusiasm,

but the group has given enough indication that it is moving on

professional lines. It has launched a monthly "Breakfast on the Hill"

initiative. This week, it organised a powwow with Senator Richard

Lugar, the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,

Senator John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee and

Representative Tom Davis, chairman of the Government Reform

Committee. Its guests in the last two breakfast outings were Senators

Orrin Hatch and Charles Grassley.

 

Those behind the new group insist that unlike the Jewish, Hispanic

and African American communities, the Indian American community has

not yet been recognised as a "political force" on the Hill. This,

despite the standing of Indian Americans in this country and the fact

that they contributed nearly $7 million in the 2000 election cycle to

both Republican and Democratic candidates. USINPAC says there were no

tangible returns for the community because the donations were made on

individual basis. As a way out, it has mooted collective

contributions instead of individual donations.

 

But the group will have to go a long way to go, convincing the

numerous Indian American associations who have their turf to protect,

and many community bigwigs who are jealous of their personal clout

with the leading politicians of the land.

 

Another success for IndiaCause

 

Extracting an apology from Maxim, the American magazine, for its

Gandhi-bashing article and caricatures is but the latest feather in

the cap for IndiaCause.com. The ethnic website has a long list of

successful online campaigns to its credit. The moment an "anti-India

excess" comes to its notice, the staffers at the portal swing into

action. Thereafter, it is dogged perseverance until the offending

party falls in line.

 

Cartographic aggressions, anti-India treatises and derogatory

depiction of Hindu Gods in the American media are all seized upon

with alacrity. The likes of Fox News and CNN had a taste of

IndiaCause's protest last year and made quick amends. Of all days,

Fox flashed on India's Republic Day a map of India minus Jammu &

Kashmir. Confronted by a strong protest, it quietly withdrew the map.

CNN, guilty of a similar action in November, was forced to correct

itself within a matter of hours.

 

Tony Brown, the talk show host of a Chicago radio station, did not

know what hit him when IndiaCause caught up with him last August.

Brown had raised the hackles of Indian Americans with a talk that

began thus: "For the salary they pay one American worker, they can

hire 9.5 workers from India....India has the worst human rights

record in the world...." Another e-mail bombardment and Brown was

double-quick with his apology.

 

One of the biggest campaigns in the US has been the one that forced a

Seattle toilet seat manufacturing firm to withdraw products bearing

the images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Kali. The `American Hindus

Against Defamation' (AHAD) led the protest that saw thousands of

Indians join a sustained campaign that made a reluctant 'Sittin

Pretty' withdraw the offending toilet seat covers.