Required to respond to United States President Barack Obama’s last annual address to the Congress, the Republican Party chose South Carolina’s Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley, the former Nimrata Randhawa, daughter of Sikh immigrants from Punjab.
This is reason enough for speculation that the party might pick her as the vice-presidential candidate for the November polls. But, for “Haley’s Comet”, as she is popularly called, to succeed, the party will have to trip the Trump (Donald) and find a credible candidate. This is despite his recent “India’s doing great. But nobody is talking about it” remark. Thanks, Mr Trump, anyway.
Haley used the opportunity to reach out, as she generally does, to all sections of the American people, emphasising inclusiveness. This is precisely the reason why another Indian-American Bobby Jindal’s presidential bid never took off. In consciously distancing himself from his Indian/Asian past, and still talking of his “brown skin and a funny name”, he lost the Asian (perhaps, even African and other ethnic groups) support, without winning the White accolade. “This is not my time,” he announced recently.
Jindal, who retired after two terms as Louisiana governor, the first Indian-American to hold a high constitutional position in the US, is only 44 and has a long career ahead. For him, for Trump and for anybody, the lesson is that democracy, anywhere, has got to be inclusive.
The Obama-Haley event coincided with another, across the Atlantic. The British Parliament took note of the rising number of non-White lawmakers, 41 in the current count, yet not fully represented in proportion to their population.
Glowing tributes were paid on that occasion to the first of them, Dadabhai Naoroji, who was elected to the House of Commons way back in 1892.
A founder of the Indian National Congress, he had written a book condemning the “un-British ways” of the British colonisers exploiting India. But, that did not discourage British voters from electing him. What makes an ethnic Indian acceptable to people in a far-off country? The answer is complex and may vary from people to people.
I found an answer to this in Seychelles, the tourist haven off Africa’s east coast, where I was a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group in last December’s presidential election. Polling 49.85 per cent of the votes, Wavel Ramakalawan narrowly lost his bid to become the president by a mere 196 votes. That was his fifth bid. While challenging the results, alleging vote-rigging and irregularities, he persisted with his political and parliamentary agenda as head of the Seychelles National Party.
This should prove, if nothing else, his commitment to the democratic process in the home his family adopted, far away from his native Bihar in India. An Anglican priest known for his sermons, the Mauritian-educated Ramakalawan is no maverick. He has been leader of the opposition since 1998. “Oh, he is a Creole,” his supporters say. He preaches both Christianity and his liberal-conservative politics in their language.
With variations, this can be said of the Indian diasporas, whether they are involved in some nondescript job for a living, trade or public life. Today, they seem to be doing well. They may be comfortable living in their own groups, but speak the language of the majority where they are and getting “naturalised” with each passing generation.
There are those who retain their roots visiting India occasionally and those who do so, unwittingly, without ever visiting. Some come to perform rituals for their dead. The heartening thing is that from long distances, the “feeling” for India wells up. The Chennai floods, for instance, touched a chord among Indian-Americans, who responded with “Run for Chennai”, “Dine for Chennai”, “Sing for Chennai” and the like campaigns to raise US$10 million (RM41.5 million).
They increasingly integrate and contribute to their societies. Priti Patel, Britain’s Conservative lawmaker and minister of state for employment, daughter of parents who were forced to leave Idi Amin’s Uganda, has married Briton Alex Sawyer.
Nikki married Michael Haley in both a Methodist church ceremony and a Sikh gurdwara in 1996. She identifies herself today as a Christian, but attends both Sikh and Methodist services.
Elsewhere, South Africa’s new Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan with his Gujarati roots and acumen for handling money, is struggling to stabilise a tottering economy. He took office when President Jacob Zuma sacked his predecessor after just four days on the job amid a dramatic slump in the rand.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has appointed Goa-origin Antonio Costa, 54, as the prime minister after the government was formed following the October election that lasted barely 11 days — the shortest in the country’s history. Known as “Babush” (the Konkani word for boy), Costa has relatives in Margao, Goa. His father was novelist Orlando da Costa, whose writings included essays on Rabindranath Tagore.
Having started with Nikki Haley, it would be appropriate to conclude with Canada where four Punjabis, the largest-ever Indian “contingent”, are in the government of Prime Minister Justine Trudeau.
His Defence Minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan, is a decorated veteran of three military missions in Afghanistan and one in Bosnia. Sajjan was the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army regiment.
The other ethnic Indians, all Sikhs and second generation migrants, are Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains and Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger. Himself a bit of an India aficionado, Trudeau occasionally wears Indian attire, visits gurdwara and at times breaks into bhangra, the Punjabi folk dance. It’s balley balley moment for the estimated 30 million Indian diasporas across the globe that continue to reach top political positions in Fiji, New Zealand, Guyana, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Britain and beyond. Their best is yet to come.
The writer is NST’s New Delhi correspondent. He is also vice-president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association and a consultant with Power Politics