The large-scale Indian American mobilization during the presidential campaign of 2007-2008 translated directly into empowerment, as manifested philosophically in the recognition that Indian Americans are a part of the political mainstream, and tangibly in a large number of posts in the administration of President Barack Obama.
The second generation, led by the likes of Preeta Bansal, Hrishi Karthikeyan and Dave Kumar of South Asians for Obama, and Subodh Chandra, took over the mantle from the earlier generation. Such activism was truly bipartisan, with large segments of the community turning out to support Republican candidates of their choice even in the face of a pro-Obama, anti-Bush wave. This augurs well for the future, since the community avoids the trap of being branded pro-Democratic and thus becoming anathema to the GOP; as things stand, prominent activists have found space on both sides of the political divide, ensuring that the community's progress will be unhindered despite the vagaries of election cycles.
The most visible manifestation of the community's rise this year has been in the number of Indian Americans appointed to policy-making positions in the administration. In the two terms of the George W. Bush administration, a total of 18 Indian Americans served in various positions though not all at the same time, besides three others who served in advisory capacities. As the Obama administration approaches the end of its first year in office, a conservative estimate puts the number of Indian Americans serving under him at around 40. And with positions remaining unfilled, that number is expected to rise even higher.
It is not about numbers, though – what is significant is the recognition of the community's policy-making prowess, as exemplified by senior level appointments such as that of Rajiv Shah, first as Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and Chief Scientist at the Department of Agriculture and to the more recent naming as Administrator of the US Agency for International Development; to Neal Katyal being named Principal Deputy Solicitor General; Rahul 'Richard' Verma as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs; and Aneesh Chopra and Vivek Kundra as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer respectively in the White House.
Shah thus becomes the head of the country's top non-military foreign assistance program, including in his ambit such key areas as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Katyal, the constitutional law expert, will offer Attorney General Eric Holder crucial advice on the relocation and trial of Guantanamo detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of 9/11. Verma, always seen seated just behind Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Congressional hearings and offering advice largely in the realm of national security; Chopra and Kundra playing pilot roles in setting up the administration's comprehensive Open Government Plan to further Obama's commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in Washington, are all in the vanguard of policy making. Collectively, they underline the end of an era of transactional politics leading to administration jobs, and herald a brave new world where the community's brightest earn top jobs by dint of sheer professional experience.
Those named above merely scratch the surface; not far below are the likes of Bansal, as senior advisor and counsel to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Nick Rathod, Deputy Director in the White House Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs; Kalpen Suresh Modi, Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement; Sonal Shah, Director, White House Office of Social Innovation; Neera Tanden, Senior Advisor and Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services; Ro Khanna, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Domestic Operations; Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to Muslim countries and communities; and Eboo Patel and Anju Bhargave who, as members of the President's Interfaith Council, bring the kind of perspective that was missing in the public debate.
A senior White House official pointed out that the dramatic influx of Indian Americans into the administration was proof that the community had come of age. "What is noticeable is that increasingly, the community is making it to the top of the table not on transactional terms, not because of political reasons, but because of genuine talent, because they are the best people for the jobs they have been picked for," the official said.
Chandra made the larger point that this army of Indian-American administrators had a more long-term implication. "I fully expect many of those who got the chance to serve in this administration to play major roles in future local, state, and federal administrations," he said, arguing that such leadership would in turn inspire more in the community to aspire to public service. The older generation is taking note, and is heartened by the trend. Dr. Joy Cherian, who founded the Indian American Forum for Political Education, said, "In the early 1980s, it was only a dream for Indian Americans that their future generations would get involved actively in Americans politics and public service. Today, it is a reality. The new generation of Indian Americans have proved that their active political involvement could contribute to the political empowerment of their own community.
"The evidence is visible. In the past decade, and this year, as the number of administration positions to which Indian Americans have been appointed indicate, our new generation is now very much a part of the mainstream."
A similar generational change is taking place in politics, where the established stalwarts like Bobby Jindal, Kumar Barve, Upendra Chivukula, Satveer Chaudhary and Swati Dandekar are being joined by fresh young faces such as Jay Goyal and Rajeev Goyle, Ohio and Kansas state legislators respectively, and by Congressional hopefuls Manan Trivedi and Ami Bera. Elsewhere, Nikki Randhawa Haley is vying for the Governor of South Carolina, Kamala Harris for Attorney General in California and Raja Krishnamoorthi is making a bid for Illinois Comptroller, to name only the most prominent.
Net-net, even as the community's best and brightest join the administration, young Indian Americans are contesting in the political arena in increasing numbers, and each such contestant further breaks down the 'minority' wall built around the community, and helps position the Indian American at the center of mainstream politics.
Reflecting the generational shift at the administrative and political levels, the community's entrenched organizations are ushering in new blood at the helm. Leading the way was Cherian himself, as his organization installed Yogi Chugh at its head. Speaking of these seminal changes, Cherian said, "This transformation we have seen in real tangible terms this year in terms of these appointments is because Indian Americans began to perform their civic responsibilities by getting involved in political and public service activities as dedicated American citizens. The appointments are really important because it will inspire other young Indian Americans to enter public serve and as a routine as compared to earlier times.
"This is what I have always been saying from the beginning, that although Indian Americans are small in number, the impact we can make is tremendous and today we are seeing these youngsters in such influential policy-making position."
The changes moved long time political activist Rajen Anand, who served the Clinton administration in the field of food and nutrition policy and is now doing the same for the Obama administration, to nostalgic reminiscence. "What a difference from the days when I remember sitting at the back of a hall and these powerful politicians would talk about Asian Americans only as mainly Chinese, and Japanese and Filipinos. We had to remind them that we Indians are also part of the Asian American coalition," Anand recalled.
"We went through a lot of these struggles for recognition and that's why we had to start always with fund-raising. But now, our new generation are active participants in campaigns and also part of mainstream fundraising, like Preeta Bansal and Subodh Chandra were for Obama. This has translated into a profile for the community that could be parlayed into influential positions and runs for elected office, because people now know of the talent, the credentials, the competence and the integrity we bring to the table."
It is a fact of political life that growing community influence manifests in the doings of the denizens of Capitol Hill. If the political rise of the Indian American was manifest last year in the bipartisan voting on the United States-India nuclear cooperation agreement, this year the revival of the comatose Friends of India Caucus in the Senate with Senator Christopher Dodd as Democratic co-chair [with Caucus founder senator John Cornyn as Republican co-chair] and more spectacularly in the picking of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to make the first state visit of the Obama administration.
"The priority of the Caucus will be to improve our relations from a national security perspective as much as our economic perspective," Cornyn told India Abroad. "Obviously, national security is a concern for India as the United States and the region and South Asia has many challenges with cross-border terrorism and the like, and we need to be supportive our one another and work together to try to deal with that because if you don't have security, it's very hard to develop your economic relationship."
The crowning glory of course was in the White House summit between Singh and Obama, which formed a perfect coda to a year of dramatic achievement for the community. Analysts argue that picking Singh for the honor of being the first to make a state visit to the Obama White House was as much in recognition of the community's growing profile in the American mainstream as it was a recognition of India's own rise as a global power.
The summit had been preceded by considerable angst. New Delhi doubted whether the US would do more than pay lip service to reining in Pakistan-based terrorist groups, and was rewarded when no less than Obama ended the year telling Islamabad that it had to act against the Lashkar-e-Taiba, failing which the US would act on its own. Similarly, anxieties relating to Obama's state visit to China, in course of which he seemingly mooted a role for Beijing in achieving peace on the sub-continent, were also allayed during Singh's visit.
As Ashley Tellis, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, observed while deeming the summit a success, "Success in this instance is not exemplified by any dramatic changes in established positions, but by Singh's and Obama's ability to have an honest and transparent conversation on a range of difficult issues."
Clearly, India and the United States will continue to differ on key issues - climate change, non-proliferation and trade tariffs come immediately to mind as possible friction points. However, the bilateral relationship has now matured to the point where both countries are able to work through, and around, these frictions rather than allow them to become stumbling blocks to the relationship as a whole.
The maturity in bilateral relations is perfectly mirrored in the political maturity of the Indian American community—which is no longer reliant on the old grip-and-grin, transactional nature of political involvement, but is increasingly confident enough to participate, to contest, and to let its talent speak for itself at the head table.
