New York, June 8 (IANS) The Indian
American community, welcoming the Democratic party unity reached by a
Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton handshake and her endorsement of his
presidential candidacy, feels this will be cemented if they run on a
joint ticket.
Kevin Kishore Kaul, the Kashmir-born chairman of Friends of the South
Asian American Communities, who has been a strong supporter and
fundraiser for Clinton, said he would run a campaign to ensure that
Indian Americans and other South Asians vote for Obama in the November
elections.
"As president, he will be good for India because he has had
international exposure," Kaul told IANS.
The Los Angeles businessman's only wish now is that Obama name Clinton
as his running mate.
"I am meeting Obama later this month and will tell him so. I have also
decided to raise $2 million for the joint ticket," Kaul added.
When it was pointed out that Obama has been noncommittal on the issue,
Kaul said: "He has to comply with the wishes of 64 percent of Americans
who want her on the ticket with him."
The joint ticket has become a hot button issue with Clinton supporters.
Rajender Singh Uppal, a New York physician who has been part of
businessman Sant Chatwal's fundraiser for Clinton, went to the extent of
saying: "If Obama gives her the nod, his chances of winning will be 70
percent. If he doesn't, the race for the White House could go either
way."
The joint ticket will also forestall 25-30 percent of Clinton's
supporters from deserting the Democratic party and voting for Republican
candidate John McCain, Uppal wagered.
Chatwal is among those who have expressed disappointment at Clinton
losing the party's nomination after a hard fought race. Uppal said just
days before she admitted defeat, hotelier Chatwal still believed that
she would somehow emerge victorious.
Unlike Chatwal, shifting allegiance for some other strong Clinton
supporters has been less painful.
Kamil Hasan from California, one of the two known Indian American super
delegates for the Democratic party, endorsed Obama Tuesday.
Yash Pal Soi, president of the Federation of Indian Associations, said a
unified party under Obama and Clinton would be good for the country and
for immigrants - and for the Indian American community.
Soi, an environmental engineer, supports the Democratic party because
"it is generally pro-India, pro-immigration and pro-common man."
Reflecting the dilemma of many Indian Americans caught between Obama and
Clinton, New Jersey Democrat Aditya Ahluwalia said he did not vote in
the primaries because he couldn't choose between the two frontrunners
and did not want to be partial to either. But now, he will have no
hesitation in voting for Obama.
The generalisation that Indian American community supports the
Democratic party is wrong, Ahluwalia maintained.
"The rich, particularly the doctors who are wealthy, are Republicans
because their party stands for tax cuts. Doctors are the ones to get hit
by the universal healthcare proposed by the Democrats," he pointed out.
Ahluwalia, who runs a business from the US and India, also believes that
a Democrat president will not be good for India because the party is
against outsourcing to keep jobs within the country, while the
Republicans are all for free trade.
"But rest assured that both parties will woo the influential Indian
American community in the presidential election," he contended.
Shaik Ubaid, a Long Island doctor, said there was a generational divide
in the Indian American community, with the younger people being all for
Obama.
"In his success, they see hope for their own political future," he
maintained.
"Our children stand for social justice, immigration rights and are in
that way much more American than us," Ubaid added.
India, he said, should have no worries on who becomes the US president
because the country is now crucial for America.
Ubaid, a founder director of Coalition Against Genocide that has been
running a campaign against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, pointed
out that Obama would not have risen without the legacy of civil rights
leader Martin Luther King's campaign against social injustice.
"King, in turn, was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi," he pointed out.
Underlining that Obama's emergence as a presidential candidate has been
hailed by the world, Ubaid said: "India too will get a better name if
the country and the Indian diaspora stand by the disadvantaged and the
minorities."
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