Indian-Americans shine in US politics

marine

Mann

Indian-American Nikki Haley is shown in the cover of Newsweek magazine's issue for this week.







By BARBARA FERGUSON | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jul 14, 2010 00:45 Updated: Jul 14, 2010 00:51
WASHINGTON: South Carolina Republican governor candidate Nikki Haley is on the cover of the July 12 Newsweek for an article detailing her transformation this election season from "obscure state representative" to a Palin- and Tea Party-approved candidate who "proceeded to dispatch a US congressman, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general in the Republican primary and runoff."
The new Indian American star on the US political scene, Haley has seen her rising status at the national level. Identified as "The Face of the New South," on the cover page, the article predicts that if Haley secures her place as the state's first female governor, she will "rocket to national prominence and secure a spot in the GOP firmament."
She stands a good chance of winning in the fall and becoming the second Indian-American governor, after Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Proud of her Indian heritage, Haley is quoted as saying by the magazine: "the fact that I happen to be an Indian female, of course that brings a new dynamic. But what I hope it does is cause a conversation in this state where we no longer live by labels, but we live by philosophies."
Her parents, Ajit and Raj Randhawa, traveled to South Carolina in the late 1960s and ended up settling in the tiny town of Bamberg (population: 2,500). They were the only Sikh family around. "We knew we were different," Haley told Newsweek. "There certainly were times where it was very apparent."
Whatever discrimination the family experienced, however, it certainly didn't hold them back. Haley's parents launched a clothing business out of their living room and eventually built it into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Little Nikki started keeping the books when she was 13.
With a knack for numbers, she later got an accounting degree at Clemson University, where she met her future husband, Michael Haley. Haley's religious background surfaced as an issue during the primary, forcing her to clarify that she's raising her two kids Methodist, that the family regularly attends a Methodist church, and that she only occasionally visits a Sikh temple, when invited by her parents.
Now, while much of America celebrates Jindal and Haley as emblems of tolerance, as brown-skinned children of immigrants triumphing in the former southern Confederacy; a number of Indian-Americans find fault with them as role models because they both converted from a traditional Indian religion to a form of Christianity. Although both Jindal and Haley changed their religion as young adults, there remains discomfort and even disdain with Jindal among some Indian-Americans for having renounced his Hindu faith to adopt Catholicism and with Haley for leaving the Sikh religion to become a Protestant. In addition, both candidates changed their names - Piyush Jindal taking on Bobby from the "Brady Bunch" character; and Nimrata became Nikki, and her last name, Randhawa, was dropped when she took her husband's surname.
India Abroad, a weekly newspaper with several hundred thousand readers in North America, proudly praised Haley after she won the Republican nomination for governor. The newspaper devoted its entire front page to a photo of her with the headline "The Future Is Here."
But such adulation came under fire when it was followed by the newspaper publishing an op-ed column lamenting Haley's conversion. A letter to the editor came from a reader disparaging her as a "female Uncle Tom" who would be "willing to sell Indian-American interests down the river in a heartbeat."
"Indian-Americans don't want them to wear their ethnicity on their sleeve, but they also don't want them to be apologetic," the newspaper's editor, Aziz Haniffa, said.
Some Indian-American politicians have succeeded without altering their identity. Dalip Singh Saund, a Sikh, in 1957 became the first Indian-American elected to Congress.
Several Indian-Americans are running for office around the US: Surya Yalamanchili, in Ohio, and Manan Trivedi, in Pennsylvania, have received the Democratic nomination for their congressional districts. Four other Indian candidates - all Democrats - still have to go through the primary process, where they will have tough competition: Raj Goyle in Kansas, Ami Bera in California, Ravi Sangisetty in Louisiana, and Reshma Saujani in New York.
Manan Trivedi, a doctor and Iraq war veteran who recently won a Democratic primary for Congress in eastern Pennsylvania, said he did not view his ethnicity as a handicap: "The American electorate is smarter than that." He called criticism of Haley's name and religion unfounded. "Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal are on the wrong side (Republicans), but they worked their butts off... and I think it had so much more to do with their work ethic than the fact that they may have changed their names and adopted a different religion."
Surveys have shown that Southeast Asians, which include Indians, politically align more with the left than the right, according to Madhulika Khandelwal, director of the Asian/American Center at Queens College in New York. Indians started becoming politically active in the 1990s. Prior to that, most Indians were first-generation immigrants, who were more focused on establishing themselves in foreign country. But now, second-generation immigrants have the ability to spend time and money needed to run for office.
The Indian-American community is more affluent than some other immigrant groups. In 2007, the US Census Bureau found the median income of Indian-American families was $69,470 - well above the median income of all American families.
 

prithvi.k

on off on off......
Crapppppp

she is that only nah who converted to christanity !

Haley was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina on January 20, 1972. Her parents, Dr. Ajit and Raj Randhawa, are Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, India. She has two brothers, Mitti and Charan, and a sister, Simran

Allegations of affairs
On May 24, 2010, Will Folks, former press secretary for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, made a claim on his blog that he had an inappropriate physical relationship with Haley "several years ago".Haley has denied the claim, stating "I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false." Folks attempted to substantiate his claim by releasing phone records that he said show 700 calls between the two while Folks was working as a political consultant for the Haley campaign. Folks said he was "forced" to reveal the alleged affair as a preemptive measure after discovering Haley's political foes were attempting to publicize the story.

On June 3, 2010, Larry Marchant, a consultant for Bauer's gubernatorial campaign, made a statement alleging he and Haley had a one-time sexual encounter.

Personal life
Haley was born and raised as a Sikh. She converted to the faith of her husband, Methodism, right before they were married. On September 6, 1996 she married Michael Haley in both a Methodist church ceremony and a Sikh gurdwara.Haley identifies herself today as a Christian.She sits on the board for Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church.

Michael is a federal employee with the United States Department of the Army and an officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard. Together they have two children, Rena and Nalin

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A Republican nominee...lol ,,like these people for votes bank/to win a political seat can go to any extend...even these convertion is normal for them,,,dirty politicians


In Nikki’s words: “My faith in Christ has a profound impact on my daily life and I look to Him for guidance with every decision I make. God has blessed my family in so many ways and my faith in the Lord gives me great strength on a daily basis. Being a Christian is not about words, but about living for Christ every day.”
-www.nikkihaley.com/truthinfacts/question-is-nikki-a-christian
 

kanjjar

Banned
She is a human being first and damn good one too. So what if she changed her religion its her personal business. You guys All you guys need to be proud of her and what she has achieved. If you cant be proud then think from Parents point of view. Has she made them proud????Compare what her parents feel about their daughter to what your parents feel about you........She became part of the government to work for her people....What have you done for your people?????
Compare to her we all are crap........just crap............
 

kanjjar

Banned
OK GTD i don't know what to say man. I already told you my answer is in the 2nd post above. Don't think of her as a Sikh or Indian or Punjabi because she isn't.I mean she has done nothing different from what 90% of the women do after getting married.She took her husband's religion.She still goes to Gurdwara out of respect for her parents.
Before asking about others ask yourself what have we ( me included) done in our lives??? i mean do are parents walk with pride ke main flaane flaane di maa ya baap han.I don't know about you but i haven't done anything like that.. I have given my parents nothing to be proud of other then that crap about "how we raised a good son". LOL
Or is is that she has become the most horrible person in this world. How dare she changed her Religion?? who gave her the right to do so??
 

kanjjar

Banned
I don't know much about her policies as a governor as she is not the governor of my state. I like her for "Becoming Somebody After Being Born To Nobodies"
 
I don't know much about her policies as a governor as she is not the governor of my state. I like her for "Becoming Somebody After Being Born To Nobodies"


If you dont know about her policies then dont come on here and defend her.

For me and many others she is just like any other politician unless proven otherwise and nothing to be proud of.

Historically, people like her are the one's that backstab the immigrants when given high positions of power and inact rules agains them and given how she casually disowned her ethnicity and background i wont be surprised if she is in the same boat.
 

kanjjar

Banned
If you dont know about her policies then dont come on here and defend her.
she casually disowned her ethnicity and background i wont be surprised if she is in the same boat.
I will always defend her and Bobby Jindal as an Indian - American. May be she doesnt make you proud as a Canadian but she sure makes me proud as an American
She did not disown her ethnicity or background. She just adopted her husband's religion...LOL
 
I will always defend her and Bobby Jindal as an Indian - American. May be she doesnt make you proud as a Canadian but she sure makes me proud as an American
She did not disown her ethnicity or background. She just adopted her husband's religion...LOL

so by that analogy if I go to america tommorow and become an american....you would be proud of me 2?...LOL

you still did not tell me anything that she has done worthwhile that would benefit you, minorities or any1 else for that matter. I am outa this thread. Waste of breath and posts.
 

kanjjar

Banned
you still did not tell me anything that she has done worthwhile that would benefit you, minorities or any1 else for that matter. I am outa this thread. Waste of breath and posts.
What has she done? She is the first non white to be elected Governor of her state and she is the First female Governor of SC.And how much time do you give a Politician to prove him/herself? For god sakes its been 43 days since she became a Governor LOLLOLOL :haha.... Keep dissing her for changing her Religion she is not suppose to represent a Religion or Ethnicity. She represent South Carolina
 
What has she done? She is the first non white to be elected Governor of her state and she is the First female Governor of SC.And how much time do you give a Politician to prove him/herself? For god sakes its been 43 days since she became a Governor LOLLOLOL :haha.... Keep dissing her for changing her Religion she is not suppose to represent a Religion or Ethnicity. She represent South Carolina

you say she is not supposed to represent an ethinicity and you still say that you are proud of her because of her being the first non white in the office...


You say that she represents South Carolina.......and you fail to point out anything she has done worthwhile even in relation to the South Carolina People. :rofl


Let me know when she does something worthwhile until then she is a nobody in my book just like the other politicians.
 

DesiBoySingh

DesiBoySingh
im proud of her being the first Indian and woman SC Governor and all but still im indian american and if i married a white Christian girl i wouldnt convert and if i did friends and family would think less of me
 
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