Way to set yourself apart from the pack, Uncle-ji.
Just in case it wasn’t clear from the billboard, Vijay Kumar may be brown, but he’s not one of those other kinds of brown people. Don’t get confused, Tennesseans. He’s just like you. But not me.
Vijay Kumar is one of eleven Republican Congressional candidates running for office in Nashville, TN (5th District). The primary elections are coming up soon, August 5th. From his site:
Vijay was born in 1954 in Hyderabad, India, to a conservative middle class family…. In 1979, Vijay emigrated to the United States because he felt uplifted by the values and possibilities inherent in the American way of life. In 1983, Vijay married Robin Minix, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky. In keeping with his conservative family values, Vijay and Robin have been married for twenty-seven years. The Kumar family attends Bellevue Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee.[kumarforcongress]
So he’s an immigrant, he married a local, and he converted. Ok, fine, just like almost every other candidate we’ve blogged about here. But the kicker is just how much the “Islamization of America” is a part of his campaign. He talks about “Universal Jihad” “The Islamist Challenge” and “Sharia Law” on his site. He states he doesn’t believe there is an “Indian-Pakistani problem… just a universal jihadist problem.” He further expounds by basically saying that being Muslim and being American are inherently antithetical and for the sake of the American Constitution we need to get rid of people that follow the Quran. You can’t make this kind of political messaging narrative up. He says some other hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric on his site, but I don’t want to give him more blog space here on Sepia Mutiny than I have to. But you get my point. Here’s the kicker (like that wasn’t enough). Also running for Congress a neighboring district over for the Republican party is a Desi Muslim candidate: Mahmood Sabri is running for Congress in the 1st District in Tennessee. How’s that for some party solidarity and united messaging?
Tennessee still has yet to experience their primary elections. VIjay Kumar will be competing against ten other congressional candidates to capture the Republican seat for this race. I highly doubt Mr. Kumar will get very far with his current messaging, especially considering his competition and that his race is in a somewhat urban area. All the same, I find it surprising he was able to get away with getting as far as he has with the campaign message he has. I also find it surprising that he’s almost using anti-Islamic sentiment not only as a crutch for his campaign, but also in a way to remind the voters how not “one of those kinds of brown” he is.
As for some of the commenters on Sepia Mutiny who advocate supporting South Asian candidates just for being South Asian, this is a case book example of why NOT to do that. We need to hold South Asian candidates accountable to OUR community on real ISSUES, inclusive of all Desis and Muslims (and Hindus and Christians), alike. Being tokenized and pandering for votes is just not going to cut it. If we can’t do that, then what is the point to having political power as a South Asian American community, really?
Nothing.
So what does Robin Minix look like. Any pictures? Just curious to see what his taste in women is like.
You can’t go wrong with VJ’s embrace of the extreme. It was funny to watch Bob Corker and Bill Ford constantly trying to run right of each other in the Tenn Senate campaign of 2008. And when Corker shilled for the import auto companies during the auto bailout debates in 2009, quite a few import-auto shills in the Senate dumped on UAW. And Bill Ford? All the race baiting by Corker was forgiven, from his desk at the DLC, Ford shilled for his rival! VJ is learning fast. Performance never matters in the GOP, all that matters is platitude and cant.
When Ralph Nader asked his father, “Why don’t we have a third political party in the US?”, dad replied, “Son let’s first have a second party!”
What is the chance that any of VJ’s primary rivals will call him for his Islamophobic kookery? Zilch. And if he wins the primary what’s the chance his Dem rival will call him for his kookery? Zipppp! It took Colin Powell in 2008 at his Obama endorsement interview to ask, “Why should it matter if Obama is a Muslim?” sending GOPers and their attack clowns (Malkin/Coulter and the general riff-raff that passes off for “thinkers”) into paroxysms of rage! But then Powell is no chicken****, unlike these worthies, and has never cared a damn for the GOPers establishment. And unlike these mouthbreathers is a shares none of their ignorance and bigotry.
watch Bob Corker and Bill Ford You mean Harold Ford. Bill Ford is quite harmless but his pick of Alan Mullaly, for CEO job at Ford, hit the ball out of the park.
On face value, nothing. But its like anti-zionism, on its face a defensable and progressive postion, in reality often just a cover for anti-semitism.
if when ann was dating dinesh, they ended up gettng married, moving to india and getting involved in politics there…and she took up with modi & Co to bash muslims, would framing her behavior as cowtowing to indian sensabilities make sense?
It would makes some sense, as it does with AJ, but its a really strained argument…since the individual held similar beliefs prior, is coming from a society where such beliefs are also mainstream, and is likely therefore just adjusting them to fit a new cultural context.
Trying to work out what a desi Uncle Tom would be called. Uncle Taj?
IA Congress aspirants aren’t trading in Islamophobia. It is the GOPer’s stock-in-trade. Also remember what the philosopher Elvis Presly said, “If my aunt had….”
And you also prove my other point,
Manju, learn to fold while you are still ahead.
While many desi-hindus will side with western islamophobia, there are plenty of desi-muslims that consider them selves a part of the muslim world rather than desis. This is the reality of the desi identity today. While most indian-muslims appreciate secularism, it is a fact that it’s popularity isn’t that big among pakistani and bangladeshis, this goes for many of the immigrants as well.
you lost me. isn’t this IA doing just that?
you lost me agian. how did i just prove this “What is the chance that any of VJ’s primary rivals [or GOPers] will call him for his Islamophobic kookery? Zilch.”
Its official! I’m ahead!
Manju, get into the habit of reading your comments before asking questions. Now read your comments on this thread! Go!
I mean IA Congress aspirants, other than this one
I notice VJ has this too on his website,
India is the largest democracy in the world. We must continue to support India in its fight against terrorism. The Kashmiri Hindus, the native citizens of Kashmir for centuries, have been reduced to refugee status in their own homeland. We must continue to support the Kashmiri Hindus in their struggle to coexist peacefully in their homeland.
I am second to none in calling out Kashmiri Pandit Genocide denialism. I am Hindu and will have no truck with anyone who says, “Let’s us two gang up against that one!” Expediency may be OK with national policy (no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests) but never in matters of sampradaya!
If you remember the 2008 campaign, there was this short video of a Dem public campaign event where a bunch of GOP Islamophobes were holding ugly signs and mouthing ugly slogans, when a group of GOP Muslim-Americans walked up and asked the guys to shut up. I guess that happened a looooong time ago.
I’m still lost. you’re relying on my comments to demonstrate that no rival or GOPer will call him out on his islomphobia? I’m a GOPer and I did precisely that, no? WTF?
well, i don’t know of any jewish politicians spewing bigoted anti-msulim remarks, but if say joe liberman did, i wouldn’t call him a sell-out. wouldn’t make sense.
thanks, you’ve substantiated my point.
Manju, frank of you. you are getting there.
Re 46:
Assuming you’re in your forties or younger, San, I think that’s largely a reflection of the larger number of Bengalis (from both West Bengal and Bangladesh) now present in the US. Back when there were fewer of us in the States, yes, Bengalis from both sides of the border made the extra effort to get together for both adda in Bangla and the food. Now, with so many of us here, the local population is large enough to segregate themselves into Bangladeshi and West Bengali in-groups.
Re 54:
I don’t presume to speak for Pakistanis, San, but you might want to note that a secular political party, the Awami League, won the most recent (2008) elections in Bangladesh with a large majority (230 vs. 30 seats) against the more Islamist-tinged Bangladesh Nationalist Party, then won a verdict in the Supreme Court to revert the Constitution to its original 1972 form (where secularism was enshrined as one of the four basic principles of the constitution), and has just established a 15 member committee to bring this about.
That said, I fail to see why some of you seem to view these labels, desi, secularist, Muslim, etc., as being somehow mutually exclusive, instead of overlapping. I mean, I identify quite comfortably as being an atheist, desi, secularist, South Asian, Bengali, and Bangladeshi, without feeling that it requires me to sacrifice certain aspects of any of these identities. Why do you think someone else couldn’t consider himself/herself as being part of the Muslim world, and yet identify just as strongly as being South Asian/desi and a secularist?
Shaad, The answer to your last question is, quite frankly, whatever it is that keeps one from being a “real” part of (a) the Muslim world and (b) making achievements in modern science or medicine. It’s difficult to point to what it is–in theory, or conceptually, there’s not necessarily a problem. But empirically, in our 21st century world, are you predicting the next Nobel to come from Egypt, Saudi, or Pakistan? Nopes. So notice that you can be Bengali-American scientist w/ no problem. Add Muslim and it’s not working, empirically. You tell me why–I’m just an observer of this empirical regularity.
On the nitpicky side – this is not grammatical; on the more obnoxious side – it makes it sound like the entirety of the choice lies with him. Awesome combination 😀
I agree with you entirely that in this time, South Asian-American candidates should be supported almost entirely on the basis of their politics, not because they are able to effectively leverage their identities to raise funds, garner ‘diversity’ points, or else it has no meaning.
There’s a second question that’s implied in what you say though – which is – is there a point to political power for a South Asian American community and if so, in what spheres? Personally, I would say that the same answer applies as above- it depends on the likely politics that would emerge from ‘the South Asian American community.’ And this, to me, depends to a great extent on the social position of South Asian-Americans (e.g. sexuality, class, religion, nationality or nationality of family, etc.). As far as I remember, if you look at the data for South Asian Americans, it is diverse, but it’s predominantly Indian or Indian-American, predominantly above median income.
So there’s a real question there about how, for example, race and class work together in promoting a ‘South Asian American’ politics and who benefits from such a politics and who would benefit from a different kind (e.g. LGBT people of color, or South Asian American labor activists or other such things).
Obviously, one’s answer to this question depends on your own politics, which are hard enough to figure out.
@Query
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country
Algeria, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji*, Physics, 1997 Egypt, Ahmed Zewail, Chemistry, 1999 Pakistan, Abdus Salam, Physics, 1979
This doesn’t seem to me to be terribly out of whack with other poorer countries, and most of the prizes have been awarded to Europeans or Americans.
I also don’t see the necessity for measuring human worth by the number of Nobel Prizes won in hard sciences or the relevance to the point that you were responding to (unless I missed it).
Anyway, sorry for the digression, but I’m nitpicky like that about casual approaches to the topic of identity as it relates to Islamophobia.
For all those 2nd gen desis who are claiming that VK is hardcore because he is from conservative India & as though he would not be hardcore if he was born here -> India allows Muslim personal law, high decibel prayers through loud speakers from Mosque at 5 AM, reservation for minorities in education/employment..etc., What does your progressive west do? wage wars, bar minarets/burqa, additional screening at airport?
Thanks musing, but be careful. Here you might be branded as ‘Nihilist’
Re 60:
Query, I am afraid I find your response to my original post a little disingenuous. You don’t at all answer the question that I had raised, viz. why some commenters seem to believe that a desi identity and Muslim identity are mutually exclusive, particularly since I, and I suspect most SM readers, know many people who wear both labels with ease. Instead, using “empirically” in a manner that brings to mind Inigo Montoya’s quote from The Princess Bride, you seem to imply that individuals from Muslim nations could not win Nobels in the sciences or, in fact, be capable of doing scientific research. Even leaving aside the Nobels of say, Zewail from Egypt and Salam from Pakistan, I feel obliged to mention that using Nobels as a criterion for being able to do science is setting an extremely high bar; so high in fact that I notice that no native Indian (as opposed to say, US citizens of Indian origin, or citizens of the British Raj) appears to have been awarded one in the sciences either. Wouldn’t you say that this is more a reflection of the wealth, development, and research infrastructure of a nation than the religion practiced by a majority of its citizens?
For what it’s worth, I don’t know what field of science you are in; but I have been a practicing molecular biologist/developmental geneticist for many years, and I have encountered quite a number of successful and productive biologists who were Muslims… Hindus, Sikhs, a couple of Jains, and Buddhists too, in case you were wondering.
Dr. A, Where is your doctorate from? One of those 3 you listed is Jewish–WTF?! You are making my point–1/5 of humanity, and there are 2??!!
if only this guy had stuck to bashing hindoos, he would have been quite a star on sepoy central. but dude had to go the whole hog and prove his believer credentials by bashing the other people of the book. sounds kinda like kerala..
you indians sure do hate you some muslims…
We SA/IA/PA/BA/SLA/NA/*A have decided to make this country our home. Let’s do what’s right for this country. Any cynicism? Let’s work with what we have here, Chomsky, Debs, Nash, Zinn, Ma Jones, and several other greats all the way to Fredrick Douglas and beyond. Want to find space for your tradition? Work with politicians who understand you, regardless of what they follow. The Hindu American Foundation (the least endowed religious advocacy group in the US by far) has found allies among Christian and Jewish legislators, Governors of almost every denomination, and organizations such as Americans United for the Separation of Church, Islamic and Jewish groups, and Episcopalians from LA. Dan Burton and Frank Pallone have respectively worked v.hard to put forward Pakistan and India’s interests resply. None of this required jumping on the “South Asian Pols” bandwagon. For me VJ is as much as a problem as a Hindu professing Govindini Murty – not to forget their terrible taste in movies (yuck!
Shaad I have a few friends from Bangladesh and there is a palpable excitement that we may be seeing a clean break from the destructive policies of the nihilists. And with the LTTE gone forever in Sri Lanka we have two fewer destroyers to worry about in the neighbourhood.
Akash
Ever heard of Narendra Modi?
I’m curious where it says he converted? I assumed he was just born Christian.
Thanks for the story–I just sent my man Vijay a campaign contribution of $1,000! My kind o’ desi. 😉
Shaad, I don’t think why there are comments that do this is particularly interesting because it usually seems to be clearly borne out of a bias which itself speaks to the social composition of the comment base for a blog like this. But the broader topic of Muslim identity and how it fit into various political economy contexts and with other identities is really interesting. Case in point, this article: http://www.opendemocracy.net/sami-zubaida/cosmopolitan-citizenship-in-middle-east.
What’s also interesting, and I would suspect related, is the excessive focus on trying to examine, analyze, understand, control?, what ‘Muslim’ means, given that many identities have been shaped in former British india and other places in similar ways. You would think from reading some of the comments that people had never heard of the literally millions of people who identified as both Hindu and Muslim in British censuses or the close ties among some Hindu-tradition social movements and Muslim ones (e.g. sufism, bhakti). Or understood the distinction between Muslims as a social and cultural group (Jinnah) and Muslims as a faith group.
Incidentally, tthere’s a really good article by elora shehabuddin, I think, about why jamaat-e-islam failed to make any inroads with rural poor Bangladeshi women in the mid 1990s election. You can see in the article an illustration of how ‘Muslim’ can mean different things and have varying political uses to many different people in many different contexts.
“people had never heard of the literally millions of people who identified as both Hindu and Muslim in British censuses”
“Hindu” can mean a person who follows the religion of Sanatana Dharma. “Hindu” can also mean Indian as in of the Indian subcontinent – ethnic not national identity. So yes back then you could refer yourself as a Hindu Muslim, that is to say an Indian Muslim.
There are some Western Indian Muslim communities that chose to follow Hindu family law as late as the 1930s.
Re 68:
True, jyotsana. I think the reasons, in Bangladesh, for subdued optimism are twofold. There was a large bloc of young, first-time voters participating in the most recent election who are nowhere near as attached to one or the other political party as their parents’ generation was. Along with the presence of multiple media channels (as opposed to the single, government-controlled outlet), this largely ensures that parties can no longer take votes for granted; with a fairly fickle electorate, they have to live up to campaign promises and deliver.
The second and admittedly somewhat morbid reason for this optimism is that both the Begums, the leaders of the two political parties, are getting rather long in the tooth, and it might not be too long before they shuffle off the mortal coil. That holds open the possibility of both parties being managed by more professional politicians (people who I know exist in the wings), who can look past the old rituals of oneupmanship and attempt something more constructive.
“There are some Western Indian Muslim communities that chose to follow Hindu family law as late as the 1930s.”
They may have but I think that in Islam that is not allowed. A Muslim has to follow Sharia law not Hindu law.
It seems the underlying issue brought up by this campaign is what Islam may or may not actually say, and then what the different Muslims individuals and groups believe and do. Here is an article covering a debate on modernity and muslims that seems to try to make these distinctions: Modernity and the Muslims A transcript of a discussion at St. Francis College http://www.city-journal.org/2010/transcript0715.html
I see nothing wrong with being against universal jihad. It’s an ideology that has resulted in the murder and oppression of millions of people for centuries. I support Vijay.
There are white people who marry Indians and convert to Hinduism. So what’s wrong with an Indian marrying a white person and converting to another religion? I thought the essence of liberalism (and Hinduism) was to be tolerant of others’ choices. As for Jihad, that whole mindset and of course their actions worldwide is a threat to the public. I personally think that anything that is a threat to the public should be banned. This has nothing to do with religion, politics, race or personal preference. Just basic common sense.
Vijay Kumar, a former Marxist, has this to say about Sharia, the veracity of which I find hard pressed to dispute:
The day I see practicing Muslims fight for the rights of non-Muslims in Islamic nations is the day I’ll believe Islam can be a peaceful religion.
The thing is Christians also see others as infidels. Abrahamic monotheistic religions have that in common – looking down their noses at everyone else, especially polytheists and religions they think are polytheists, and atheists. But the difference today is that there are no official Christian nations today. The West has separated religion from the state. The problem with all 56 Islamic countries is that they are “Islamic.” They have not separated the religion from the state. When Islamic states stop being Islamic and simply be non-religious states, then other religions could have the same freedoms. After all a Zoroastrian or Baha’i Iranian has just as much right to Iran as a Muslim (maybe even more). A Hindu or Sikh or other Pakistani/Bangladeshi has just as much right to Pakistan/Bangladesh as a Muslim. An Iraqi Christian and Jew has just as much right to Iraq as a Muslim. An Egyptian Copt and Jew has just as much right to Egypt as a Muslim. And if it were not for the religious cleansing 1400 years ago, an Arabian Jew and a Christian have as much right to the now Saudi Arabian peninsula as a Muslim. Of course for all those many 56 states to become secular states protecting all its citizens equally through secular laws is a major undertaking. Pressure by modern progressive Muslims from within and from everyone without these Islamic states need to increase so that every single one of these 56 religious states transform into secular states for all.
Over on the Washtington Post there is a discussion on the On Faith Blog on the similar violence of monotheistic Christianity and Islam, and then the current divergence: Islam needs more tolerance, not more mosques http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/ramdas_lamb/2010/07/islam_needs_more_tolerance_not_more_mosques.html
I really wish ‘desi’ 2nd gen Muslims would actually do something about confronting extremism and hateful ideologies inside Islam including jehadism one day, rather than the denial that exists today. Wouldn’t that be nice?
“We need to hold South Asian candidates accountable to OUR community on real ISSUES, inclusive of all Desis and Muslims (and Hindus and Christians), alike. Being tokenized and pandering for votes is just not going to cut it. If we can’t do that, then what is the point to having political power as a South Asian American community, really?”
I don’t agree with his message, but my first generation father would–as the other posters have pointed out– lets face it–unfortunately, his ideas dovetail very nicely with the ideas of many first generation Indians.
Should my father not vote for Vijay Kumar because he doesn’t like Islam? Is having power as a South Asian community pointless if we don’t bring all components of that community along with us? I don’t think so. Something is better than nothing.
And there’s something to be said for tokenism. Benazir Bhutto and Indira Gandhi did little to advance women’s rights, but it meant something that they were women and in power.
Like anyone else, my father has the right to vote for whoever reflects his beliefs. None of us are obligated to vote for someone who is inclusive of all Hindu/Muslim/ Christian desis, just as none of us are obligated to vote for a desi candidate because they are desi.
I think Kumar is far less troubling than this, which has global ramifications: Pakistan’s Crackdown on the Internet Shows What ‘Global Blasphemy Code’ Could Look Like http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/59532
I don’t know, man. these monotheist religions have quite a track record of ruthlessly eliminating heathens from the scene. It has been estimated that the monotheists have eliminated something like 90% of the world’s cultural diversity over the past 2000 years (eg native america, africa, south korea, kerala, phillipines, africa, pakistan, iran, malaysia, indonesia, etc). of course, vijay would do well to replace his admonishment of islam with that of monotheism in general, since christianity is guilty of the same kinds of genocides and culturicides. what I don’t get is how western liberals come down on the side of these twin monstrosities of islam and christianity whenever the question of preserving india’s traditions arises. don’t make sense, man. those guys were supposed to be advocating for the beseiged natives. but then the asinine colonial products coming out of st stephens are coming out of a former colonial missionary institution, after all.
We’ve come a long way from the days of the Crusaders and Columbus decimating the Arawaks or for that matter, the Ottoman and Armenian genocides aimed at systematically exterminating Christians. Focus on realities on the ground today. I see countless charitable humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army where “doing the most good” is not just an empty slogan. Wherever there’s a disaster, they are the first ones on the scene with material and spiritual aid. Remember Haiti?
Sure there are misguided overzealous missionaries in India and other places. But they don’t resort to violence or threats or forcible conversions. Nor do they declare a fatwah against you for blasphemy. Compare that to the fanatical stone-age sharia mindset that chops off your hand for alleged insults against a prophet. That’s what happened recently to Prof. Joseph in Kerala. And the thing is he wasn’t even referring to the prophet, just to someone with the same name.
I deplore the colonial mindset and the “dogs and Indians not allowed” signs and other atrocities we had to put up with during the Raj. Whenever I come across a pompous Brit, I make it a point to put him in his place. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a fine scotch with my steak at the gymkhana club. Nor does it mean I have to say Mumbai and Chennai instead of Bombay and Madras. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Or bash people from St. Stephens and Lovedale and Madras Christian College. Appreciate the Indian Railways, the Indian postal system, and the Indian Army, all of which have colonial roots. And don’t forget the English language, a language that many on this forum are very comfortable with.
Nor does it mean I have to say Mumbai and Chennai instead of Bombay and Madras.
How do you spell Hindu ? With two o’s ? 😉
No, but not for the same reason you probably spell vindaloo with a ‘u’ 🙂 But seriously, when a Westerner asks me if I speak Hindu, I say yeah I also speak Christian.
Christian charity has been and still is used as a passive aggressive means of conversion, which is no real charity at all but just another means of destroying non-Abrahamic religions that remain in the world.
Well so are blogs, but that doesn’t seem to stop you…
(post #39)
I was wondering about that too – see Anna’s post #16……….being “anti-Jihad” didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of her sentence.
But then she also goes on to say “we contradict ourselves”. You go girl, you’re not a mandi!
If anyone on this blog is in his constituency and has the slightest bit of concern for the type of people in congress, please think about what you are voting for. He obviously doesn’t respect religious freedom in America. This comes from an American who knows people of all religions who have been victims of hate. I encourage Mr. Kumar to speak with fellow Americans of all different faiths. Open up your eyes, mind and heart, sir, your neighbors, your fellow citizens of different religions are not to be hated. It’s political campaigning like this that has caused violence around the world, is probably causing violence and hate as I type.