I have been
an early supporter of Joe Biden, right from summer of 2019, when few gave him a
chance in the crowded democratic primaries. While many of his detractors point
to his advanced age and his past political missteps, I see Joe Biden as one of
the torch bearers of a species on the brink of extension- the generation of elder
statesmen, like his good friend former Senator John McCain, Congressman John Lewis,
and his own former boss, President Barack Obama. Leaders for who courage, personal
integrity, and empathy matter. I believe that Joe Biden is the leader we need in the White House, especially
during this period when we grapple with multiple major crisis, trust in
establishment in at a low ebb, and America’s leadership role in the world is in
question.
Therefore, I
was one among the hundreds of thousand of Indian Americans (not to mention the
millions of Indian citizen) who were disappointed with the policy position on India
announced by the Biden campaign. In the policy paper on Muslim Americans, Joe Biden
wants New Delhi to take necessary steps to restore rights of all Kashmiris and
has expressed disappointment over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as
the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in Assam.
There are
media reports about the implementation of the Kashmir policy, CAA and NRC that
is not in keeping with India standing as open, pluralistic, and democratic
society. The Indian government has to take steps to address these concerns
immediately. However, I believe that Joe Biden has been ill advised on taking a
hard line on the India policy. First, Kashmir is very complex issue that dates
back to the per-independent India and is rooted in the distrust between Hindus
and Muslim sowed by the divide and conquer policy of the British. It is worth
recalling that since partition in 1947, India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers
have fought four wars and had countless border skirmishes. Some experts believe
that the Indo-Pakistan issues is more complex than the Israel- Palestine conflict
with almost every issue having many shades of gray to it. Second, an uncalled
for anti-India policy position like this, run the risk of rubbing well
intentioned supporters the wrong way, resulting is no net political benefits.
Given this
reality, it does not help a presidential campaign to weigh in especially given
the many social, racial and economic justice inequities that US is grappling
with. Trying to appease one more vocal group over others is common in politics.
The question is at what expense? Indian Americans bring up the legitimate question
of the interests of the other stakeholders involved in Kashmir. These include, Kashmiri
Pundits (Hindus) who were driven out of their ancestral homeland by Islamic
fundamentalist; the people of India whose taxes and subsidies have sustained the
terrorism shattered Kashmir economy for the past four decades; and the thousands
of Indian Military personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice protecting the
border of India with Pakistan occupied Kashmir from repeated terrorist
incursions planned and sponsored by the State of Pakistan.
Earlier this
spring, I teamed up with two fellow Biden supporters, both of who live in swing
states and have deep roots in the Indian American community, to investigate the
issue of the shifting support of the Indian American voters towards Trump, especially
among the older immigrant population which maintain close ties with India. We
reached out and spoke to a small group of 16 leaders of Indian American social
and cultural organization that has members all across the country.
Our findings
strongly confirmed the anecdotal evidence, leading us to the following
conclusions: 1.) Due to the openly hostile anti-India stand of many left
leaning Democratic party leaders, including few Indian American elected
officials, there is a widely held perception that their policy position is also
shared by the Biden Campaign; 2.) While most Indian Americans disapprove of
Trump on policy matters like immigration, gun control, climate change, on his ham-handed
handling of the Covid19 crisis, and also on moral grounds, they feel overall he
is better for India, due to his firmer stand on Pakistan sponsored terrorism
and his good relationship with PM Modi; 3.) The perception, however mistaken,
persists that Trump is better for the pocketbooks of the Indian American
community due to his tax cuts which has helped lift the stock markets in the
short term; 4.) As the result of the factors listed above, it is estimated that
for the 2020 Presidential elections, there will be a 15-20% shift of the
traditionally 70-30% democratic leaning Indian American voters towards Trump,
making the balance closer to 50-50%. In some swing states like TX, MI and OH, this
will translate to tens of thousands of votes moving over from Democratic to the
Republican column, with the potential to influence the outcomes in some
districts where India Americans reside in greater numbers.
We found
that the older generation of Indian Americans, who grew up in India, did not identify
with the South Asian American or the AAPI classification that most political campaigns
boxed them into (interestingly, the Trump campaign has a Indian American team).
As one community leader bluntly put it “South Asian is a modern construct based
on geography and political correctness. It has limited social, cultural or
emotional meaning for my family and friendsâ€. Additionally, most of the
existing pro-Biden political support groups cater to a younger demographic (who
are mostly pro democrats anyway) and quite understandably do not fully grasp
the nuances of the issue that relate to Indian American immigrant voters. It
will help if the Biden campaign creates an Indian American focus group, adds
more leaders from the community, and engages more actively with the large
immigrant Hindu voters in swing states. Indian Americans are a crucial voting
block who will help elect the next President of US and the India Policy of the
candidate is a critical consideration. Therefore, the revelation of the India
policy by the Biden campaign at this inopportune time, only adds fuel to the
fire.
Yet, Indian Americans,
who have made America their home, will have to factor in other political
considerations that are US centric. This bring into question issues such as the
health of our democracy and its pillar intuitions, the American leadership on
the world stage, climate change, social and economic equity, racial justice, and the tone of our political
discourse. On all these fronts former VP Joseph R Biden is far and away the
better candidate to be the next President of the United States. Biden has a
track record of working on issues impacting India, such as trade and cross
border terrorism. The deadly pandemic sweeping the nation, has done us one good
turn- it has revealed the gross incompetence and complete lack of moral compass
of Donald Trump- and had bolstered the prospects for Joe Biden. Assuming Biden
wins, given his track record to be thoughtful and reflective on policy issues,
I am hopeful that after he walks into the White House on Jan 20 2021, he will
reassess the US-India policy and build upon the already strong foundation of
the US-India relationship.
WORDS: ~1160
Note: Suresh Kumar, is a 5 time Inc.
500 ranked serial entrepreneur and Professor of Practice at NJIT. He is a
longtime community activist and serves as Committeeperson of the Middlesex
County Democratic Organization, NJ.
