Generation Obama is a grassroots group consisting of Young Professionals and was founded in Boston. Last night was the first major event featuring Senator Obama himself where we hosted a fundraiser for the Senator at a local Boston Lounge, Venu. The event went great raising over $50,000 for the Senators campaign as less than 3 weeks remain till the first Iowa Caucus. The event was sold out with about 400 young professionals from the Boston Area. USINPAC was able to get young Indian Professionals, entrepreneurs and students to come out to this event where Senator Obama talked about the Politics of Change and how important it is for the young people to get engaged and go to NH to help canvass.
Senator Obama also mentioned that the stances on the Energy Policy where due to his "cousin", Dick Cheney and joked about how the campaign tried to keep this information out of public eye for sometime. This event went great! Indian American Young Professionals were at bay to here the message from Senator Obama himself in an exciting setting.
There are several news reports about such events happening all over the country in todays LA Times, check it out!
This post is in response to the long post on Sepia Mutiny blogger Abhi. The post pretty much looks to talk about the various misguided points made in the article we had discussed in the past post on Sunday.
I think it is shameful that Abhi would even reference this as a viable source, it seems as if it is a hatchet job as referenced by many of the comments to this post.
"I do not feel that USINPAC represents my interests whatsoever and I wish the press would stop assuming they speak for all Indian Americans."
Abhi although you are free to believe that the organization doesn't represent your beliefs the truth is the organization does work to promote values important to ALL Indian Americans. Our legislative accomplishments, our work and support for Indian American candidates, and our work with various initiatives such as this Presidential Portal, which is a strong example of this.
"Unless our generation (through orgs like IALI, IACPA, SAALT) find more issues that we agree about and are willing to work hard to lobby Washington for, our “community” will increasingly be hijacked and represented in Washington by “long-distance Nationalists.”"
I want to say and always have said I have great admiration for the work done by IALI and SAALT, if these organizations have problems and issues with USINPAC as described in the article I hope they are bringing them to our attention because working together as a unified voice is important for all of our organizations. Working directly with the organization I can assure Abhi that your claim is baseless, all of our supporters are hard working US Citizens and without really knowing the truth I think you should be careful with your words. I think the work being done at Sepia Mutiny has been great, I have spoken to Anna about this before but making harsh accusations against others never seemed to be anything I have seen before.
It is important that Indian Americans understand what USINPAC truly stands for and in no way have our views been anti-Muslim. Other accusations that went on in many comments to this Sepia Mutiny post accuse "H-1B Warriors" to be strong supporters of the agenda. For anyone that knows anything about election laws, foreign nationals are prohibited by FEC regulations from donating to a political candidate, party or organization such as USINPAC. Many people have also accused USINPAC of being a voice of "old hands". I can assure you that although I may have a few gray hairs, my hands still are very young. The membership and leadership base of USINPAC reflects people of all ages, at all walks of life and is not really dominated by any one "type" of Indian.
As discussed before, the Indian American community is very diverse. Most ethnic communities have religion, food or language to tie them together but our community proves to be different. It is difficult to distinctly represent all groups but I assure you USINPAC support is from various people and in no way would support be turned away due to religion or any other qualifying factors.
I encourage people to ask questions about the organization if they exist but to try and restrict themselves from making baseless or falseless accusations. I am a volunteer and have never recieved a penny from the organization and can tell you that Indian Americans need to come together as a unifying force to tell politicians what is important to us to move our community forward.
The Web Newspaper, IndoLink just posted a story reporting a recent "study" published in the South Asian Multidisciplinary Academic Journal entitled "Islamophobia in Indian American Lobbies". From the looks of this paper it seems more like an editorial columnist than an actual academic study that you would find in most respectable foreign journals. Essentially bottom line is that this study and furthermore the article in IndoLink both looked to accuse Indian-American Lobbying efforts as anti-Islam. The study was posted by Ingrid Therwath as a part of a project to talk about South Asian Issues and pretty much underlined her the point that any view any anti-Pakistan sentiment is essentially anti-Muslim. The story continued to look to tie USINPAC as an organization that promotes an anti-Muslim agenda. Working with USINPAC for almost four years I can tell you first hand that this is far from the truth. Being born and raised in the United States, a product of the public school system in Rochester, NY and now an Engineering Student at Boston University I can tell you that USINPAC works hard for the Indian American community.
The basic fact is that USINPAC works tirelessly to represent the concerns and values of the Indian American community. This portal is a clear example of this looking to connect the Indian American community with the upcoming Presidential Election. This portal is as grass roots as it comes with strictly volunteers working on this for one common cause, having a vibrant voice in the political world for our community. Our community continues to prove its diversity and complexity and this is something we all should celebrate and be proud of.
USINPAC too celebrates this diversity and is evident with the bipartisan approach. We look to support all Indian American candidates running for office and area always reaching out to the community for their thoughts, insight and ideology. Once again this portal is proof with an opportunity to ask Presidential Candidates questions of their choosing, an opportunity to talk and blog about the issues important to YOU and US.
The truth is in today's day and age all Americans are concerned with the instability of Pakistan and all Americans are concerned with the dangers of terrorism. Does this make every American anti-Muslim? The Indian American community reflects these American ideals and values. We also bring to the discussion a unique appreciation for how America is perceived globally and how great democracies can work together in partnership and cooperation. We as a community or as an organization should not be singled out for beliefs that are pretty consistent all around.
If you have been keeping up this has been a long week for the US-India Nuclear Deal. There has been a great deal of press on the comings and the goings of the deal and I'd like to bring you a comprehensive update. I will also include a thorough list of Links of Stories I have compiled for all of who are interested.
On October 16th We brought you Breaking News on the Nuclear Deal coming apart for all that could be done with this current government. The problems lay particularly in India with the governments not being able to resolve their differences.
This sparked worry both in India and the US so USINPAC (our parent group) put together an Emergency Delegation to help lobby for the deal in India with major groups. On October 18thUSINPAC put out a press release
The USINPAC delegation intends to assess the perspectives of all stakeholders in the Indian system -- political and technical -- and to provide an Indian audience with the viewpoints of key Indian-Americans who were actively involved in the public discussion of the nuclear exemption for India in the U.S. The Indian-American community played a crucial and unique role in this public discussion.
The video is essentially USINPAC founder Sanjay Puri discussing the importance of the Delegation and how it all came together.
A great deal of press resulted from this effort from USINPAC and Indian American leaders to help lobby for this deal to have a positive end result. Daily India, The Hindu, NDTV all had great stories highlighting the Delegation and Effort. They mentioned the goals of the delegation and how some Indian American leaders thought the delegation wasn't worthwhile.
Oct. 22nd: With the delegation beginning, USINPAC released another press release talking more about the delegation as it happens and how they plan to meet with the leaders of the BJP, Communist & Congress Parties, the Indian Ambassador, and the Prime Minister.
Oct. 23rd: The Delegation meets with the Prime Minister Singh We met the Prime Minister who received us very graciously, and found him determined to take the U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement forward despite some opposition typical in a vibrant democracy like India, said Mr. Puri.
Very good news being that with the setbacks the PM was still on board and confident and optimistic that all parties will be able to meet in the middle. As you can imagine a great deal of very bold news stories resulted from this message the PM sent out after meeting with the delegation. Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Business Line, and many other media outlets reported this on the 23rd.
Oct. 24th: Delegation continues meetings. The PM delivered a message of assurance to a special nonpublic event with the Indian Military forces as reported by The Telegraph.
A source said Singh spoke “at great length on the deal and he talked about the necessity and the future of the deal”. -Telegraph Reports
But sources from New Delhi says that PM office has officially told the Left parties that Indian Government has abandoned the implementation plan of the 123 agreement with US. It is up to the next elected Government to look into the matter and do what is necessary. -India Daily Reports
"Many members of Congress are growing increasingly skeptical of what the Bush administration is negotiating," says Rep. Edward Markey (D) of Massachusetts, a longtime supporter of multilateral nonproliferation efforts. "It's heartening to see the members coming over to me and shaking their head at what the Bush administration went so far to accept." -Christian Science Monitors Report
While the PM riled the troops and the International media carried his message, another important player joined back in the diplomatic fight, Under Secretary of State Burns. NDTV reports Burns urges that Indian leaders sign on to the nuclear deal. ''The Indian Government now needs to make a decision. We do not intrude into the Indian domestic politics, but we do believe that the Indians need to make a decision at some time. We hope the decision would be positive to go ahead because this agreement has enormous benefit for us, " Secretary Burns said to NDTV.
All this was happening while the Delegation continued lobbying as CNN described it "Left-Right and Center". The delegation met with leaders of the BJP and Communist parties as the story describes in the video post below.
"We need to brief our constituency, the Indian-American community, as well as Capitol Hill,'' said Sachdev . He admitted that the purpose is also to “request, push and nudge the leadership to find a way forward”. He also added that what is needed is innovative thinking to reconcile differences. -DNA India
Oct. 26th: Sify does a story on the Delegation meetings, while Business Line editorial writer B.S. Raghavan talks about Why the US is pushing the deal so hard. Where he estimates the deal could rake in as much as $100billion for the US and “an increasingly powerful India represents a singularly positive opportunity to advance (the US) global interests”. Great piece I thought.
The Times of India also ran an editorial piece by Sumit Ganguly entitled "Save the Nuclear Deal". The piece gave great insight from a real scholar on US-Indian relations The abrupt halt in the quest to move the nuclear deal into a safe harbour has now cast serious doubt about the willingness and ability of any government in New Delhi to act in a responsible, predictable and reliable fashion. -Sumit Ganguly
Oct. 27th: The Australian Reports that as the nuclear deal seems to go sour the worst reports are coming out that could be troubling for India's leading party and PM Singh.
REPORTS that India's redoubtable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seriously considered resigning this week are among the most disturbing recent developments in international politics. -The Australian
As the roller coaster of this deal and the Indian leadership continues it seems that the parties continue to value political destruction versus building whats good and right for the country. This report deeply saddens me as I agree with Mr. Ganguly, this could serious prevent strong relations between the US-India in the future.
Oct. 28th: And the roller coaster continued with Henry Kissinger being interviewed by CNN-IBN watch the video below where he pretty much proclaims a failing of the deal would be worse for the US.
The interview is pretty good as Kissinger really puts the deal into perspective, something Secretary Boucher and Congressman McDermott had assured to USINPAC at a briefing back on September 18th. The deal as important as it is to India is more important to the US and would just be a minor setback in the future of US-India relations.
The Hindustan Times also did a piece somewhat recapping the delegation, recalling how the Indian American leaders became Conduits between the opposition parties in India. To sum up the delegation in one line is a quote from Sanjay Puri to the newspaper.
"We are taking the message back to Washington that the prime minister is committed to the deal, but it is in a delicate situation," said Puri.
Oct. 29th: Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronan Sen is going to testify before the Lok Sabha in India. CNN-IBN Captures it below.
I will try to brief on this as it happens.
He was concerned that with 2008 being the presidential election year, it would be difficult to shepherd legislation with congressmen and senators distracted by campaigning.
"Time is an enemy," stressed Puri, who was concerned that the next occupier of White House may not be as enthusiastic a backer for the nuclear deal as the incumbent.
-Hindustan Times October 28th.
Time is the problem as the future president won't care as much about this deal and presidential politics well can complicate things. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Below are some blog links as well to some interesting articles I found.
Economic Times has a great story updating on the Nuke Deal between US and India. It talks about how a delegation of Indian American leaders will be going to India to lobby hard to make sure the deal passes the tough political dialog in India. The team will be led by USINPAC and is coordinated by USINPAC India Team Leader Robinder Sachdev. Check out the article here!
CNN recently reported an interesting story on there might be a move for the NEXT general election to move to a REGIONAL primary system instead of the state based approach that exists today. Three US senators are proposing a regional rotating primary which wouldn't put such emphasis on two states, NH and Iowa, and would prevent the show down that states like Michigan and Florida are putting up against both of the Parties to move up their primary date.
The NH, Iowa system has been something that has become a part of our electorate and really allows candidates to give a grassroots feel for themselves giving voters a good opportunity to meet, hear and understand the community. I have been working very closely in NH and have many friends working for campaigns in both states, and the political culture is deep rooted in both unlike most of the rest of the country.
USINPAC has setup grassroots field operations up there and with nearly 10,000 Indian Americans, some local leaders come out to say that we are a force to be reckoned with. The true focus should be more at the national level on all candidates by the media and the press which typically gives unrestricted access to the candidates that help and benefit them the most. Although I understand when critics say NH and Iowa have to much access, I don't think that people in many other states would actually care the way locals in these two states do. I think this may be a good debate and discussion, and will hopefully in turn get more people involved in the political process.
The New York Times recently published an article on how Indian Americans are looking to their Jewish counterparts as role models in advocating civil rights issues and lobbying Congress. Many Indians hope their community can emulate the experience of the Jews in the US, where a small minority has fought prejudice and built political clout.Other Indians find a bond through the threat of terrorism and opposition with Muslims.Whatever the case, there has been a significant growth in secular Indian American organizations as a new generation of Indian Americans has seen a need for it.
Check out this article to learn more about what these two groups have in common and which of these organizations are working together.
The Washington Post just published an article on the growing influence of Indian-American groups in Washington. Using the example of the landmark US-India nuclear deal, the article points out that even politicians who use nuclear nonproliferation as a staple of their strategy came around in bipartisan form to overwhelmingly accept the deal. Why was this?Many attribute it to the powerful presence of Indian lobbyist groups on the Hill.
Sanjay Puri, Chairman and Founder of USINPAC, is interviewed on why he founded the group and the position USINPAC and other Indian-American groups will have in the future. USINPAC 2008 Web Director Varun Mehta was also quoted in the article using the example of Obama’s swift reaction to the memo his campaign sent out attacking Hillary Clinton’s ties to wealthy Indian-Americans and alleged support of outsourcing.
Throughout the article it is mentioned that many of these new Indian-American groups are trying model themselves after Jewish-American and Israeli lobbyist groups that have had success in representing a small minority of the country on the Hill. What are you thoughts?Is this the right path for Indian-Americans?Where would you like to see the community in the future? Tell us what you think of the article!
Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd recently filled out a questionnaire for USINPAC about Indian-Americans and issues related to them. Dodd talked about immigration reformed and strengthening US-India relations.He supports the full passage of the US-India Nuclear deal and would be in favor of seeing India’s induction into the UN Security Council. Read the rest of the questionnaire here.
A really interesting point in it is that Indian-American youth are disproportionately active in US politics. For example, it’s hard to find a member of Congress who doesn’t have a South-Asian staff member.USINPAC 2008 Web Director Varun Mehta is also quoted in the article talking about the amount of volunteering for campaigns by Indian-Americans.
How active do you think India-Americans are? Are they disproportionately more active than other ethnic groups? Tell us what you think!
Above you will find a video from a recent event hosted by USINPAC & USIBA along with the Congressional Task Force on US-India Relations to really get an update on US-India relations and more specifically the 123 Nuclear Deal.
Amongst this discussion Assistant Secretary of State Boucher, stated "India is a solid candidate for a seat on the security council". This video displays more on his comments and how the further relations between the US and India can help move that forward. Check out the video above or on USINPAC TV!
Hindustan Times had an Interesting article about how an Indian American will be honored as one of the top 100 Brokers in the US. It seems as though Indian Americans continue the success story by truly living the American dream. When the Obama memo on Hillary Clinton and the community had come out it had raised some interesting questions, issues and concerns about what Indian Americans stand for. The memo portrayed the community as not really fitting values of America. I think this article and accomplishment continues to depict how we represent what America has always been. Indian Americans believe in STRONG family values, moral values, and are thirsty for learning, education and self betterment. These are values that America used to operate on and are the basic principles of what has made the United States the great success it has become. This man Raj Sharma received the highest honor in his respective field and day in and day out this can be seen in any areas Indian Americans are venturing it. Although Senator Obama has long since apologized for the mishap the memo still shows what many Americans may believe to be our community. We need to continue to show grass roots mobilization to ensure these depictions or stereo types of the community are driven away.
The only way we can do this is by GETTING INVOLVED in the political process! Post your thoughts....
Senator John Edwards recently responded to a questionnaire which addresses some of the more important issues facing Indian American's today. This questionnaire is a must read for everyone. However, here is one of the things I found most interesting.
Senator Edwards responded to a question regarding medical malpractice liability and how it has plagued the over 40,000 Indian physicians in the country. He explains a multi-pronged solution, addressing policy and legislation changes to alleviate the problem:
"To discourage frivolous suits, I will require lawyers to have an expert testify that actual malpractice has occurred before bringing a suit. There will be mandatory sanctions for lawyers who file frivolous cases, and any lawyer who files three frivolous cases will be forbidden from bringing another suit for the next 10 years"
It's about time that somebody takes a hard line to address this issue. Doctors serve an incredibly immense role in society, yet every so often we see a doctor fall victim to a flawed system, losing his career as well as his ability to save lives. It seems as if Edwards is committed to protecting the profession from the onslaught of "frivolous" lawsuits, and further, is committed to keeping doctors where they belong—in hospitals.
I'd encourage everyone to check out the rest of the questionnaire. Senator Edwards has a pretty impressive message to Indian Americans. It's time for us to listen.
On Thursday, September 20th, USINPAC supported Rep. Israel by attending his "wine tasting" fundraiser. Congressman Israel is a friend of the Indian American community and we were happy to support him. The event, held near the Capitol was a true success and it was a pleasure to see the Representative also employs an Indian American in his DC office!
Senator Clinton's support in the Indian American community has been getting a lot of coverage of late. This piecein the Washington Post is typical. I think that USINPAC Chairman, Sanjay Puri, makes a good point in the article. The fact is that both Bill and Hillary Clinton have a long history reaching out to the Indian American community and Indian Americans clearly appreciate that the Clintons feel warmly towards India.
As the community continues to get more and more involved in politics, we will certainly see a lot more articles on campaign contributions. That is to be expected, and it is good for community that our active participation and fundraising in noted in major publications. It really highlights how important it is for community leaders who are fundraising for any candidate to go the extra mile to comply with the letter and spirit of campaign finance laws. It would be a real shame if a few bad apples tarnish the reputation of the community when proper political participation and fundraising is something we should all be proud and excited about.
With primary dates moving forward every week, the 2008 Presidential Primary is getting closer than ever. The upcoming election is going to be one of the most important this country has faced in recent years. With no clear front runners and more than 16 candidates, this election is being closely followed by members of every community across the US.
Day in and day out I have been speaking to members of the Indian American community across the spectrum and I can tell you they are more excited than ever! Whether it be grassroots volunteering, hosting house parties or helping to raise funds; Indian Americans are involved with almost every event of this upcoming election and the numbers are growing every day.
As Portal Director I am hoping to connect the community with all things relating to this election and provide various forms content, multimedia and technology for visitors to utilize and to make informed decisions. One of the most important and exciting elements of this portal is this blog which will truly push and encourage our community to talk about the issues that are important to us. I am hoping that our community can move forward from looking for pictures with candidates to put on the mantel to truly asking the candidates questions on the issues and discuss whats important to Indian Americans.
We encourage all of you to go through the site and enjoy the features and we need you to keep coming back and become engaged in all of this! Comment on the blog posts, vote in the poll, add content and videos or even become an avid USINPAC 2008 volunteer! We need YOUR HELP, so if your interested feel free to email me at varun@usinpac2008.com!
I challenge you all to get more involved to show the Candidates and America that the Indian American community is mobilized and an important voice in the political realm.
I would like to give a warm welcome to all of you to USINPAC 2008, an Internet portal dedicated to the 2008 Presidential Election and the Indian American community. USINPAC 2008 will strive to be a primary resource and tool for presidential campaigns to reach out to the community and for the community to talk about issues of importance to them. We have been working hard to bring together the latest technology and resources to make an online presence where the Indian American community can really come together talk about the election, the candidates, the issues and much more! We hope this portal will be a vital source in engaging the community on current events and issues of importance for the 2008 election. The portal will illustrate every major element of the upcoming election from campaign fundraising to candidates messages to the Indian American community. The blog will also be a great tool for individuals from all over the country to share their ideas and discuss what they would like to see in the next president. We are open to contributions from everyone and and I am sure Portal Director Varun Mehta will keep flow of information current and discussion relevant. We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the portal and always appreciate your insight. Lets move forward as a community and make our voices heard! Thanks,
