Tonight I attended a meeting of mainly wealthy Indian businessmen. They were gathering to celebrate the impending nomination of John McCain by his party, and their role as visibly political Indians.
The first man I spoke with was Prakash Puram, a staunch Republican since 1978, when Republican senators helped him get a visa for his mother. He told me this:
“The Democrats didn’t help me at all. And the Republicans who helped me said, ‘Remember this when you grow up. Do something for the party.'”
The Republicans were smart. They got a donor for life.
He likes them for other reasons too, he hastened to tell me, because they believe in the values of religion and family (every one of the people I interviewed said the same thing). When I asked him if the Republican emphasis on Christianity bothers him at all, he told me that religion of any kind is good.
Puneet Ahluwalia was there, a business partner of George Allen’s. On Allen’s macaca moment, he had this to say:
“I think Biden should be famous for the donuts thing, and Hillary for the Gandhi at the gas stations. With Allen, it was just a word. I know him so well. He didn’t mean it.”
Ahluwalia said he was one of the few people who emphasized Allen’s record of supporting the US India nuclear treaty (a point nearly everyone there mentioned in McCain’s favor as well), when the macaca hit the fan. He worked out of Allen’s campaign office and now partners with him as a consultant for IT businesses.
The event was full of big-shots like him, one of them – a Dr. Sambhu N. Banik – was appointed a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in June. By Bush himself. Banik insisted I stand in front of his hotel while he ran up to get pictures of him with Bush Sr. and George W., and one of his wife with McCain. Women were conspicuously absent. The three who were there told me McCain has a long way to go in appealing to women, specifically Indians. But Obama was too suspiciously charming for one of them, an employee at the Pentagon who didn’t want to give out her name. She told me he reminds her too much of Bono.
I heard some choice quotes at the event, namely:
“I’m just a regular heart transplant surgeon during the day. This is what I do for fun.”
The constant refrains were that Indians have a lot to gain by lower taxation of the wealthy, and that McCain stands for outsourcing and India’s nuclear power. Banik told me his children are democrats, but that it was a philosophy borne of youth, and one they would grow out of.
One thing about the event: there were a lot of Jews. The American Jewish Committee, a bipartisan, pro-Israel group, was there in full force, with an Indian Jew leading the charge. They had gone to the Denver convention, and there too, partnered with Indians. They talked a lot about the cultural similarities between Indians and Jews, a favorite topic of my father’s. Indians like education; Jews like education. Indians are a relatively successful minority; Jews are a relatively successful minority. Indians tend to be short; Jews…you get it. Here’s a picture of two AJC members – the Indian man told me this Jewish man beside him is his guru.
On one level the event delivered what was to be expected: brown counterparts of rich, white men. But there was a more layered side to it: nearly all of them told me they just want Indians to participate. Whether republican or democratic, it didn’t matter. It is important, they said, that we have a voice.
“It’s not the fault of our parties, it’s the fault of our own,”
said one Digvijay Gaekwad, a member of the royal family of Baroda , and brother to a famous cricket player (I wanted to link to him, but there are a couple of Gaekwad cricketers, and I’m not sure which one he is). He had a distinct understanding of what political involvement can garner:
“Under the name of God we’re willing to pay six figures, but under the name of politics we never sign a check. And everywhere in the world – Trinidad, Kenya – we are suffering. If everyone gave a few bucks to the candidate they like, we’d all have a little political insurance. It’s important, but unfortunately, Indians only come out when there’s food involved.”
Gaekwad was one of the many there who attended the 2004 convention in New York. He said they made sure to offer a big spread there, just as they had here (the event was held at an Indian restaurant owned by a McCain supporter – the food was delicious).
Like every other supporter I talked to, these guys think the Palin mess will blow over. And they believe McCain is their man (though a couple of them were for Romney and Giuliani in the primaries – one of them raised $50,000 for Giuliani’s campaign – he told me a lot of his donors were Indian democrats who he persuaded; “Where was I going to find Indian republicans?” he asked me. I pointed around us.).
“The other guy” was how they referred to Obama. The other guy is not the answer. He will raise taxes and hurt India.
That’s how they began and ended the dinner. Fiercely free-market and small government. Happily traditional. Gleamingly wealthy. And whether you agree with their politics, the image they projected was a powerful one. One of men (and some women) using their money and time to further causes they believe in. Causes that were essentially about being Indian. Ahluwalia told me:
“Indians confuse democrats with democracy. But what we are for is democracy. Freedom to be who we are.”
I completely understand why Indian-Americans would vote Republican…I’ve done so regularly at the state & local level since I was 18. But some of these people seem to have set their understanding of what it means to be Republican or Dem back in the 1980s. Puram’s reason is pretty weak, it’s about as sophisticated as some TN illiterate villager voting for Jayalalitha in exchange for a new sari (someone who executes on process should not get your undying gratitude for doing their job, an elected official who asks for it is pretty low). I might be joining them 8 yrs from now after I help bring about an Obama interregnum, but I hope I have better reasons.
Mallika, given the typical democrat leaning desi, this report shines light on the “Republican” desi – and their point of view and sincerity come across in your report.
I have some Ron Paul relatives and knowing something about their experiences in India I definitely understand why someone would sincerely believe that government is inherently evil and must be kept small and weak. Having grown up with a functioning govt. I am not so enthusiastic about libertarian extremes
3 · louiecypher said
Yeah but libertarian extremes are politically unfeasible. The government keeps growing every year under Democratic and Republican administrations. Simply keeping the size of government steady for five years would be an accomplishment. Why do you worry about libertarian extremes when our government is going in the opposite direction?
I am not a big fan of the current incarnation of McCain ( Campaign McCain as I call him) but I like McCain the “maverick” senator. If GWB proved anything it is that execution is more important than ideology and McCain’s senate experince proves that he can work across the aisle to get things done. McCain, the center right senator, has shown a willingness to put self and party interest ahead of the national interest.
Obama is a far left senator and will remain so. But for his skin colour he would not be where he is currently. This might not be politically correct but still is the truth.
Most DBD Indians know that too much government intervention in the economy will lead to stagflation and are string supporters of the republican party. If the republican party get rid of it’s image as the far right Christainist party they will attract a lot of immigrant voters. ABDs do mot know this and support an idealistic/unrealistic president who if elected will be a colossal failure along the lines of Jimmy Carter.
I’m not worried about it, I’m just explaining why I wasn’t so keen on that small libertarian faction within the Republican party.
Yeah, because Americans have been dying to put a black man in the White House. Puhleeze.
Nara must be one of those dudes who curses out Dalits for how cushy their lives are post-Mandal. Summertime and the livins easy…
4 · JGandhi said
Are there any studies which show this trend of growth in govt size hopefully relative to the national GDP or something?
Mallika, thanks for the post. Btw, I was trying to click on the pictures (I found out that they couldn’t be enlarged) I noticed that they had interesting titles – Mallika jew.jpg & jew hindu.jpg. Curious choice – any reason(s)? Btw, the Baroda cricketer you mentioned above may be Anshuman Gaekwad, the former Indian player & coach. His father played for Baroda (& India) too, but he would be in his 80’s now.
When I asked him if the Republican emphasis on Christianity bothers him at all, he told me that religion of any kind is good.
Typical Hindu idiocy. He is a blighted pagan who hasn’t seen the light of God to much of the delegation, which is incidentally more Christianist than the 2004 delegation. Many Republicans are running full-on propaganda campaigns for the conversion of all Hindus in India, via “human rights” and “freedom of religion” campaigns, e.g. Joe Pitts.
Thank you Mallika for this extremely fair and enlightening post. It would have been easy for you to caricature these men but you have given me an insight I did not have before.
I too totally understand Indians who vote Republicans, wether it’s outsourcing, nuclear bill, family values in general, for the average Indian middle class family Reublicans should win hands down. I’ll probably ote Obama though, mostly for the symbolism of Obama getting elected and not rewarding the GOP.
Years ago Indians in Britain were very likely to be Labour supporters and many still are but the Conservatives there have been making inroads in the Indian community, appealing to some of the things the Indians quoted in the article cite: an emphasis on strong families, hard work, thrift and savings. Decades ago a Republican of Indian origin was quite rare but that has been gradually changing. I imagine American Jews would tell a similar story. The Democrats used to be seen as the natural party of immigrants and minorities.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diversey/2820988995/
Pankaj Roy, those bizarre titles are a result of me working on little sleep and pepper spray fumes. (Here’s my reporting on the protests last night: http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/09/02/pepper-spray-again-perfumes-st-paul-streets/). I sort of used whatever words came into my head.
I’ll fix them though, so you can enlarge them.
I’m glad some people found the profile to be enlightening. I come from a family of classical conservatives, so I think I have some insight into the intelligent reasoning behind republican leanings. There is quite a bit.
More posts soon.
It is important, I think, to not categorize this as a general love fest between Jews and Indians. I would venture a strong guess that the Indians at the RNC aligning with Right-wing Jews were mostly, if not all, Hindus. Most Jews in America are Democrats, and the ones aligning themselves with Republicans, are like Lieberman, hardcore Zionists or neocons.
I am not surprised that the India-US Nuclear deal, itself the manifestation of US trepidations over controlling Pakistan and thus rewarding allies, is a big factor at the RNC.
This is more about regional (divide and conquer), religious, and identity politics than about immigrant camaraderie.
I am making this clarification because we must not ignore the last percentage of Muslims in South Asia, and the long-standing tensions between Muslims and Hindus. The melding of powerful Hindus with powerful Zionists is terrifying, quite frankly.
All the Indian Republicans I know are money grubbing dorks who are willing to sacrifice all their values in order to pay lower taxes.
Nara #5 said:
Obama is a far left senator and will remain so. But for his skin colour he would not be where he is currently. This might not be politically correct but still is the truth.
So do you feel the same way about Piyush “Bobby” Jindal? I bet not. Choose your words carefully. Obama isn’t just one color. Remember his mom is Irish and his dad is Kenyan. Don’t try to brush away the truth with one generalized statement my fellow desi. THINK.
Correction on the word “is” for the parents of Barack. It should have been was. My apologies.
I’m a fellow Macaca for McCain.
5 · Nara said
Reminds me of a conversation I had with my (PUMA) dad in the spring:
ZenDad: I’m all for Hillary, she has experience because her husband was president. Zen: hmmm (mentally thinking so is ZenMom a pharmacist now because she has been married to you for 40+ years?) ZenDad: Obama’s a big phony and the only reason he’s popular is because he’s black. Zen: Blacks are only about 10% of the population, that’s why they’re called a minority. ZenDad: Well everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.
The nuclear deal has supporters among dems and repubs as well as a large majority of Indians. It is a win-win on many fronts, the primary ones being economic. GE gets to sell reactors, India can reduce it’s dependence on Saudi/Russian oil. The non-economic ones is the ability of India to focus on its nuclear arsenal, without the distraction of civilian nuclear power generation, on it’s neighbors (Pakistan/China).
Indian politics and typical Hindu-Muslim relations in India is not your forte, quite frankly.
Mallika:
This is the kind of post I was looking for when I came to Sepia Mutiny. Thanks! I still don’t understand these desi republicans, but I like hearing about them. I also agree that we have to participate.
I think they’re wrong about the “other guy”. He may raise our taxes, but I think he understands better than any other person who has ever had even a remote shot at the presidency what it means to be us. To be different, but successful, and invested in all American has to offer.
Mallika, What were their views on the war in Iraq? Did it feature in their decision to support McCain? Or were they there mostly because of their support for “free market and small government”?
5 · Nara said
Interesting to note that McCain got into the Naval Academy because of his admiral father and Grandfather. He graduated almost last in his class. Obama got into Harvard Law School without stating his race on his application. He became president of Harvard Law Review (for non-lawyers, this is very prestigious). Who’s the one benefiting from preferences?
Little known fact: the Gaekwads are the sworn enemy of the Royal House of Doerkwad, ever since being excluded from the signing of the historic wad accord.
Jabber – “Typical Hindu idiocy. He is a blighted pagan who hasn’t seen the light of God to much of the delegation, which is incidentally more Christianist than the 2004 delegation. Many Republicans are running full-on propaganda campaigns for the conversion of all Hindus in India, via “human rights” and “freedom of religion” campaigns, e.g. Joe Pitts.”
So what? Trying to convert Hindus is no crime, at least not yet.
Since we are on the topic of religion and politics, why not take a look at your cowardly candidate – FauxBama, who when confronted with the Muslim rumor equated being a Muslim with a smear. And such is his and his campaign’s Islamo Phobia that, two Muslim-American girls who, according to the tenets of their faith had their heads covered, were asked to leave the auditorium where the savior was supposed to address his followers. No seriously, why doesn’t the eloquent one come out and say that, even being a Muslim does not disqualify him from running for President? I would respect him for that.
Nesha –
“I am not surprised that the India-US Nuclear deal, itself the manifestation of US trepidations over controlling Pakistan and thus rewarding allies, is a big factor at the RNC.”
If you had done a little research, Nesha, you would have noted that a very large segment of Indians,including Indian Muslims, heck even Kashmiri Muslims, are FOR the Nuclear deal.
“This is more about regional (divide and conquer), religious, and identity politics than about immigrant camaraderie.”
Seems to me that it’s you who is trying to drive a wedge between India’s Hindus and Muslims by alleging that the deal is solely supported by right wing Hindus and Zionists.
“I am making this clarification because we must not ignore the last percentage of Muslims in South Asia, and the long-standing tensions between Muslims and Hindus. The melding of powerful Hindus with powerful Zionists is terrifying, quite frankly.”
If,in your opinion, India should not be friendly with Israel, for reasons of purported human right violations by Israel, I assume, then India should not have friendly relations with China or Pakistan either, no?
Seahawks Fan – “Yeah, because Americans have been dying to put a black man in the White House. Puhleeze.”
No,not because of that. Rather due to the fact that, an overwhelming majority of African-Americans voted for Obama solely because of his color, and this surely, more than anything else,helped him in defeating Hillary Clinton.
And, if he wins in November, it will be mostly due to the 94 to 1 support he has amongst the African – American community, who because of racial solidarity are expected to come and vote in unprecedented numbers this election.
30 · Fidelis Bozo said
you do realize that african-americans make up about 10% of the population and only 13% of the vote, right? and that, about 90% of af-ams vote for the party which hasn’t pursued a southern strategy these past 40 years… and not that i’ve been keeping close track, but that the candidates of this party have had a slightly lighter skin shade than black?
try again.
I don’t know. I don’t really understand economics or teh computers.
“Macacas for McCain.” Anyone put that on a T-shirt yet?
I don’t know, but Palin + McCain = McPain
5 · Nara said
Well stated. For purportedly being “pro-life,” Dubya certainly proved adept at execution. (Oh yeah, there’s that whole other thing, too.)
12 · krish said
Word. Props to Mallika.
27 · DJ Drrrty Poonjabi said
Oh gawd, that nearly made me blow my wad.
33 · Seahawks fan said
I’m stealing that. In exchange I offer another slogan I stole from someone else–OBAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT!
hopefully that wasn’t a slam at group politics, on an thread about
IndiansIndo- American’s, exercising their enfranchisement, fretting that ‘the other guy’ will hurtIsraelIndia, posted on a hyphenated identity blog. That would be hypocritical.opps sorry, just saw your other comment;
I see now, you’re for Indian,um I mean American unity. Country first! apologies
So what? Trying to convert Hindus is no crime, at least not yet.
Any self-respecting person would not associate himself with a group largely contemptuous of his religious beliefs or religious culture.
And the Republicans have never been so Christianist as they are now.
28 · Fidelis Bozo said
Something tells me you wouldn’t respect him or any other politician who doesn’t have an (R) next to the name!
Oh my goodness! I know that guy in the picture who’s with that McCain sign. He’s the National Coordinator for the entire “South Asians for McCain” movement. He was in Boston for the annual Netip event. He’s a witty and polite guy, and I respect his decisions. On another note: When they announced that there were Indians who supported McCain, I imagined some very old geysers who were personal friends of Gandhi.
17 · Nesha said
Nesha: You seem to be OK with the use of ethnic cleansing in the creation of a country based on religion (i.e. Pakistan), what issue do you have Zionists? I personally want India to deliver on its secular promise and not follow Israel but you are on shaky ground.
My quote above begins with “Nesha:”, everything above it is not mine
Nara,
Are you serious? that Obama only got where he was because of his skin color? Would you say the same for Jindal? hmmm
Obama run against 9 white males and 1 white female. He didn’t force anyone to vote for him. People voted for him because they want a fresh, young, face after 8 years of disaster from Bush/Cheney.
The other contenders were all middle aged old washington hands (been there, done that).
People want a fresh face, regardless of what color that comes in.
17 · Nesha said
Not all Jews who support Republicans are Neocons or Zionists and not all Hindus are Lotus Lovers; just like not all blacks who support them are Uncle Toms. Lets not start stereotyping here…neither of the Sununus are Zionist or Hindus, check their voting records.
Lieberman of all is maybe a Neocon and not a Zionist, I have no love lost for him and felt that his speech was about as inspiring as all of Mitt’s head bobs put together. But to harp on him will only lead me to point out that thanks to him, a large portion of Arab Americans did not vote for Gore just because a Jewish man was on the ticket…
You have got to stop using “Zionist” and “NeoCon” or equivalent polarizing terms, not everyone who disagrees with you represents a fanatical fringe…on that note, many who agree with you might…how’s that for stereotyping?
Oh and another thing, it isn’t a stretch of imagination that the Indians meeting the Jews were Hindus…Correct me if I’m wrong but its kind of given considering that most Indians at most places at most times, happen to be Hindu…
43 · RahulD said
sure, i’m all for dropping casual usage–especially ‘neocon.’ I will continue, however, to call a Jabotinsky a Jabotinsky and an Iron Wall an Iron Wall…
You forgot about the Stern Gang…
I actually did used to refer to myself as a NeoCon before I realized I was a lot more libertarian than I thought, now I say that I’m a Goldwater Republican…but since that is almost extinct, I think I’m just confused and but that is just an Indian thing.
A lot of Muslims are Social Conservatives, as much or more so than the majority of Jews. Just like all these Muslims cannot be termed “Jihadi”, all the Jews cannot be called “Zionist”. Especially when in this context and her previous use and implications of the terms, “NeoCon” and “Zionist” are supposd to be I read it as war mongering, Palestine hating, Muslim baiting, racists. Alright, even if we do take that definition of “Necon – Zionists” acceptable…is there a nuanced corrolary to the assumption that it was “Hindu-Indians” who associated with them at the RNC?
An example of this was at an urban warfare simulation during training last year. We took turns in playing Joes and bogeys; in one of the rooms, after we had “taken out” the bogeys, we were supposed to secure them for interrogation. During that, one of the guys called the captured bogey a “Hajee” and our Sergeant snapped at us and said we could never use that term as it was offensive. I asked him later why he had said that, because from my knowledge “Hajee” was a honorific and he explained it to me…
What?! Libertarianism is more publicly popular than its been in years. Ron Paul! Ron Paul! Ron Paul! I’m sad that the Democratic Party isn’t more amenable to it, but what can you do? American partisan politics sucks 🙂
As with so many other things, Barack Obama has proved himself adept at playing the race card. What most people don’t realize, though is that the race card has two sides back to back. And maybe you have to be part of a really small, relatively quiet and peaceful ethnic minority group— like the Indian American community– to ever get a look at the uglier side of the race card Mr. Obama and his Democrats are playing.
On the one hand, Mr. Obama spares no opportunity to portray himself as the black victim of right-wing Republican racism– a role he has perfected. His Harvard erudition melts away into a plaintive inner-city mumble as he tells us how the McCain campaign is trying to make everybody afraid of him. Of how they point out that he doesn’t look like the Presidents on the money… you know.
On the other hand, and far removed from the media glare, there’s the Obama campaign’s calculated use of racial slurs when he knows most people aren’t looking, or listening.
During the deliberate, targeted campaign of character assassination mounted against Hillary Clinton by the Obama people earlier this year… one specific smear stands out in the minds of Indian Americans, because it fed on the kind of xenophobia that is increasingly directed towards us in this time of immigration and outsourcing debates.
A fund-raiser and supporter of Senator Clinton’s named Sant Chatwal became the specific object of the Obama people’s hate campaign. Mr. Chatwal is a successful hotelier in the tri-state area, and a long-time associate of Senator Clinton’s. He is a proud American– of Sikh Indian ancestry, but no less an American for having those roots.
Trying to capitalize on the morbid and all-pervasive fear of outsourcing to India… which appears increasingly the Democratic Party’s favorite scapegoat for America’s economic woes… the Obama people smeared Senator Clinton for her association with Mr. Chatwal by putting out a carefully-unsigned press release referring to her as THE SENATOR FROM PUNJAB.
For one thing, this was completely and utterly racist… Mr Chatwal has only about as much connection with Punjab as Mr. Obama has with Kenya, though of course if you dwell too long on Mr. Obama’s Kenyan roots his attack dogs will be all over you with accusations of racism.
For another, it was intentionally misleading… worded in such a way as to suggest that Mrs. Clinton was somehow in favor of outsourcing to India, or looking out for a foreign country’s interests at the expense of America’s own, and connecting this allegation to the fact that her supporter Mr. Chatwal happens to be of Indian origin.
And finally, it capitalized on exactly the kind of toxic, widespread prejudice that Mr. Obama blames the McCain campaign of deploying against him. Mr. Obama contends that the Republicans are using “dog-whistle politics†to infuse majority white voters with fear about how different he is from them and from the image of their traditional leaders. Yet, his campaign tried to smear Mrs. Clinton using a loathesome and xenophobic popular stereotype of ethnic Indians as a strange brown-skinned people who threaten the American economy by outsourcing American jobs. With the specific use of the phrase “Senator from Punjab” to smear Mrs. Clinton, the Obama people slip in a cheap-shot implication of extra-national loyalty that’s completely unfair to both Sant Chatwal, a proud American citizen, and to Hillary Clinton whom he supports.
Mr. Obama has demonstrated that if you’re an American who accumulates enough wealth and power, you are free to be as blatantly, vicariously, publicly racist as you like… as long as you don’t happen to be white. It also helps to have a lick-spittle media that considers you beyond reproach, and refuses to look at the sorts of ugly things that are going on.
We all know the kind of outrage that would have abounded, had Republican criticism of Mr. Obama’s shadier associates, like the convicted felon Mr. Rezko and the curiously radical pastor Jeremiah Wright, referred at all to the ethnicity of those two worthy gentlemen. Yet, when Mr. Obama’s people want to cast the nastiest, most xenophobic aspersions on one of Mrs. Clinton’s associates… Sant Chatwal… apparently the same definition of what constitutes racism does not apply.
As for Obama’s running mate, Senator Joe Biden obviously has utter contempt for the Indian American community’s sentiments. Why else would he choose to make a punchline out of the repugnant cartoon stereotype of Indians as heavily accented 7-11 owners, and feel comfortable doing so in front of C-SPAN’s cameras?
I’d strongly urge my fellow Indian-Americans to consider this, when making up their minds on whom to vote for this November.
We as a community have always tended to vote Democrat, perhaps having swallowed the oft-repeated lie that Democrats stand up for the rights of ethnic minorities more conscientiously than do Republicans. On even cursory examination, though, it becomes obvious that this only applies to minorities who are large enough to significantly impact the electoral calculus.
The anti-India prejudice of the Democratic Party, which exists in plain sight if you only take a moment to look, isn’t restricted to a slight here or a gaffe there. Whether it stems from the all-pervasive Chinese sponsorship of Democratic legislators and administration officials, or from plain old institutionalized bigotry, the fact remains that it’s reflected at the highest levels of their policymaking.
Consider the right of India, menaced by two hostile and nuclear-armed neighbors in China and Pakistan, to develop the necessary means to defend herself. India’s attempt to establish a nuclear deterrent against the threat posed by these neighbors, was met with rabid hostility from the Democratic Clinton administration. Not only were all manner of economic and technological sanctions applied, but Clinton’s Secretary of State Madeleine Albright actually advocated taking military action against India for her arrogance in having tested nuclear weapons.
This Democratic policy was based on the blatantly supremacist idea that lesser nations and peoples must be denied what is now sixty-year-old technology by means of intimidation and bullying. The devices of its enforcement, such as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, may reasonably be compared to a law that prohibits American citizens from owning guns unless they happen to be white and live in rich neighborhoods.
Imposing sanctions on New Delhi after India’s nuclear tests didn’t serve American interests in any conceivable way. They did not persuade India to give up her nuclear weapons program, nor did they significantly slow India’s emergence as an economic power. All they achieved was to alienate a potential ally and burgeoning export market for the better part of a decade… at more long-term cost to America’s interests than to India’s.
By contrast, the Bush administration… reviled at every turn for its aggressive implementation of foreign policy… was actually sensitive to India’s security concerns. Yes, this monstrous Republican regime was the one that not only lifted the Clinton sanctions, but went out of its way to ensure that India could claim her rightful place in the comity of responsible nuclear-armed states by introducing the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006. The Republicans didn’t just talk about deepening the natural alliance for which such great promise exists between India and the United States; they threw America’s diplomatic weight behind the agreement at the IAEA and the NSG. Throughout the international community, they expended whatever political capital was necessary to see the deal through.
And the Democrats? Well, when the Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement came up for vote in Congress as H.R. 5682, it was a host of Democratic legislators… including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Barbara Boxer, who did their best to scuttle the deal. At every opportunity, they introduced poison pill amendments that would have killed the agreement negotiated in good faith between the State Department and the Indian Government. Obviously, for all their voluble concern about “global warmingâ€, the Democrats are eager to deny India the use of clean nuclear power for her rapidly growing economy. Obviously, for all their supposed commitment to egalitarianism, they’re happy to see communist China threaten democratic India with nuclear weapons but begrudge India the capacity to retaliate.
I wonder if this reflects the paternalist worldview that the Democratic Party seems to have inherited directly from the old British Empire… that a nation of brown people can neither be trusted nor allowed to possess dangerous weapons. It’s ironic that the party promoting such an atavistic, racist and inflexible foreign policy should claim to stand for “changeâ€. Their perspective could not be more different from the hard realism and courageous initiative that the Bush administration has demonstrated in dealing with India as an emerging power in her own right.
Perhaps this difference in attitudes towards India is also reflected in President Bush taking time out of his schedule to drop in on a meeting between then NSA Condoleezza Rice and India’s Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, in Washington DC some years ago. During that same visit, Mr. Singh was kept waiting for hours and then blown off by the office of Senator Joe Biden. Chew on that the next time you stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts.
I’m almost a Democrat after reading that essay
thank you for sharing