OBAMA: Sonal Shah joins the White House transition team, and gets smeared

[Update: Please scroll down to the comments section to see Vijay Prashad's responses, as well as those of both supporters and critics of his piece. You can also read a letter in defense of Sonal Shah, by some prominent academics and others]

The history of the Indian-American community is so brief - roughly the four decades since doctors, engineers and others started arriving in this country in large numbers - that the passage of even a few years seems like a long time. The community grows that much larger (and wealthier), its youth climb to higher posts in a greater variety of fields, and the barometers by which we measure our collective success are re-calibrated: what we thought of as a big deal, not too long ago, now seems just normal.

And so, when I read Vijay Prashad's recent attack piece, "The Many Faces of Sonal Shah," I had something of a flashback. Prashad's column, in Counterpunch (along with numerous other pieces in the South Asian press), raises questions as to whether Sonal--one of 15 members of the Obama-Biden transition team--is in fact a closet Hindu fascist. And suggests that her silence on anti-Muslim violence in India is consistent with others on the Obama transition team: "many of them have similar commitments to the far Right in Israel or in other parts of the world."

Vijay raised the exact same issues about Sonal in 2005. At the time, I was with India Abroad, and writing a longish piece on desi summer camps like Youth Solidarity Summer, where activists can learn about social justice issues. I noticed that desis on the political left were having heavy online discussions about Indicorps, the group Sonal started with her brother Anand in 2002. Indicorps is a little like Peace Corps, in that it arranges for young Indian-Americans to work with development projects on the ground in India. Sonal had also worked at the Treasury department, which sent her to Bosnia, Kosovo and Southeast Asia, but it was her creation of Indicorps that earned her India Abroad's Person of the Year Award in 2003 (which I also covered).

On one hand, the prize sort of canonized her--here was a new kind of Indian-American youth, who combined Beltway success with entrepreneurial, homeland activism--but on the left, some people were unhappy with her and Indicorps, and the accolades they received. They felt she and the group were secretly aligned with the Hindu right. For those on the left, operating in a post-Godhra environment, this was an Indian-American culture war, in which one could not be involved in any way with a Hindu group without being fully implicated in its worst acts.

In his Counterpunch piece Vijay writes about Sonal's family:

The Shahs remain active in Houston’s Indian community, not only in the ecumenical Gujarati Samaj (a society for people from Gujarat), but also in the far more cruel organizations of the Hindu Right, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Overseas Friends of the BJP (the main political party of the Hindu Right) and the Ekal Vidyalaya. Shah’s parents, Ramesh and Kokila, not only work as volunteers for these outfits, but they also held positions of authority in them. Their daughter was not far behind. She was an active member of the VHPA, the U. S. branch of the most virulently fascistic outfit within India. The VHP’s head, Ashok Singhal, believes that his organization should “inculcate a fear psychosis among [India’s] Muslim community.” This was Shah’s boss. Till 2001, Shah was the National Coordinator of the VHPA.

Vijay aims for guilt by association until that last part, when he names Sonal the VHPA's National Coordinator. However, that title appears to be incorrect: Sonal headed U.S. relief efforts for the VHP in 2001, when the Gujarat earthquake struck (see her statement below). So what exactly is the issue? Here I quote from the article I wrote for India Abroad, more than 3 years ago:

Vijay Prashad, a professor at Trinity College and one of the founders of FOIL and YSS, concedes that there are no smoking guns, so to speak, to implicate the work of Indicorps, and even praises the organization's effect on youth.

"I've seen a number of people who have gone to Indicorps," says Prashad, author of The Karma of Brown Folk and Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses. "It's really shaped their lives."

He also notes that Anand Shah has tried to initiate a dialogue with progressives. But he maintains that the central concerns voiced by YSS leaders and others have not been addressed, such as a visit Anand paid to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after the Godhra riots. Why, asks Prashad, would Indicorps associate itself with the man who has become synonymous with the communal violence that took place?

According to Indicorps, however, the only time any of its members were in the same place as Modi was an event meant to honor Indicorps fellows, organized by the publisher of Gujarat Times. Before that event, Indicorps fellows, whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian, were supposedly told they could decide whether to attend. [Download india_abroad.pdf]

When I first read Vijay's Counterpunch piece, I realized that he was simply re-visiting the NRI skirmishes that may have existed in some form, for a brief period, several years ago, when communalism in India was central to the political identities of some Indian-Americans. He hadn't accumulated any more facts between then and now; the only difference is that now, he has a presidential peg on which to hang his piece. I didn't see much purpose in addressing it, until I noticed that his criticisms had found a home in many badly written, unsourced articles in the Indian and Pakistani media. My former editor at India Abroad/Rediff, Prem Panicker, breaks it down nicely on his personal blog:

The Times of India suggested that Sonal's family is 'rooted in the Sangh Parivar'. Sure--as I pointed out earlier, so is mine. And even assuming that to be associated in some fashion with the Sangh Parivar is criminal, why is the 'sin' of parents being visited on us children?

The Hindustan Times in an exemplary piece of echo-chamber journalism further disseminated the story, in the process even managing to get the name of Sonal's brother wrong, despite ostensibly having spoken to him. It is Anand Shah, folks, not Amit Shah.

Across the border in Pakistan, the Daily Times upped the ante. Never mind that in its rush to judgment the paper couldn't even get the VHP's name right--the commonality between these three pieces is that it merely picks up and regurgitates one man's often fact-challenged opinion piece.

This is journalism? Maybe it is, today, where the formula is: pick a name in the news, link it to controversy real or imagined, front page it and the devil take the collaterally damaged. Anything Obama sells just now--if you can somehow link him, seven degrees of separation style, to Hindu fundamentalism and anti-Muslim pogroms, what fun!

This has been, overall, an ugly episode, in large part because it relies on hazy associations of long ago, and ignores the actual work performed by Indicorps, right now. This is a group, after all, whose speakers have included Harsh Mander, the IAS officer who famously spoke out after the violence in Gujarat. What more needs to be said? 

Well, here is Sonal's statement:

"As an Indian-American who has lived in this country since the age of four, serving on the Obama-Biden transition team is a unique privilege for me.  A presidential transition is always a time of excitement and, in some cases, of rumors and unfounded gossip.  I'd like to set to rest a few baseless and silly reports that have been circulating on the Internet.  First, my personal politics have nothing in common with the views espoused by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or any such organization.  I've never been involved in Indian politics, and never intend to do so.  Second, I've always condemned any politics of division, of ethnic or religious hatred, of violence and intimidation as a political tool. Some factually inaccurate internet rumors have attempted to link me to Hindu Nationalist groups through a variety of tenuous connections: Relief work I'm proud to have helped coordinate following the Gujarati earthquake of 2001, or cultural and religious affiliations of some of my family members, or apolitical humanitarian work I've been privileged to do as a founder of the NGO Indicorps and as the Director of Global Development for Google.org.  Finally, I do not subscribe to the views of such Hindu nationalist groups, and never have.  Ridiculous tactics of guilt by association have been decisively repudiated by the American people. I am delighted with what the victory on November 4 says about my country, and about our place in the world.  I look forward to serving our President-elect in this time of transition."

And if that doesn't suffice, check out Reuben Abraham's posting at Zoo Station, where he makes the inescapable comparison to Obama and the William Ayers episode. He includes testimonials from an all-star list of Sonal's associates, including journalist Manjeet Kripalani, Fawzia Naqvi (a Pakistani Muslim), and former fellows of Indicorps. Here are the words of Dr. Larry Brilliant, who helped eradicate small pox and co-founded Seva. He also hired Sonal to work at Google.org:

Let me tell you straight away that as many wonderful people that the good Lord has allowed me to meet and work with, there is no finer person I have met than Sonal Shah. I've read the comments about her -- alleging "communal hatred" and they are beyond absurd. Sonal has not a bone, not a muscle, not a cell, not a strand of DNA with bigotry. She is one of the best, the brightest, the kindest, open minded and inclusive souls, and one of the most talented that my beloved India, my adopted homeland, has produced.

Please help stop the real bigots who are maligning her, stop circulating their venom. Remind them, please, that the path to heaven is closed for those who bear false witness against their neighbors. When I was working in India to eradicate smallpox, my associate Zafar Hussain and an imam in Lucknow "took me under their wings" and helped me study the Koran, to understand Islam better. I remember so vividly when they taught me about pul-e-sirat, the bridge from this world to heaven. The soul must cross this bridge, as narrow as a knife's edge, constantly pulled down by the sins of a lifetime. One of the worst sins, the worst obstacles to crossing pul-e-sirat into Heaven or Paradise was the sin of bearing false witness against a good person.

Sonal Shah is a credit to India, a credit to the Obama transition, a credit to America and a friend to all who know her. Let's rally around this remarkable woman and support her against false accusations and innuendos and let's pray for her success in helping create an Obama Administration that can help heal this broken and divided world. The stakes are too high for false divisiveness and petty fabrications. Sonal will help make "Hindi-Yankee bhai bhai" stronger and better and we all need to support her in building this friendship.

--Larry Brilliant MD MPH FACPM D.Sc (hon) D.LH (hon)

Enough said.

Elsewhere:

• Prem Panicker responds to Vijay Prashad's comment below
• Salil Tripathi at LiveMint: "In defence of Sonal Shah"
• Amardeep Singh at Sepia Mutiny: "In Defense of Sonal Shah"
• NDTV: "Sonal Shah denies links with VHP, RSS"
• Times of India: "Indian-American groups protest Sonal Shah's appointment"
• Statement from Shyman Tiwari of the VHPA: "Sonal is not associated with VHP of America in any capacity whatsoever."

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Interview with Vijay Prashad on his book, "The Darker Nations"
• Vijay Prashad writes a funny open letter to John McCain

Comments

[Vijay Prashad]

Dear Arun,

It is of interest to me that you characterized my essay as a "smear," which is a word with religious connotations. It comes from the act of anointing something, often with grease. I'm not a religious scholar, so I don't presume to know what grease is referred to, or which tradition this comes from.

Smear also means to malign, to slander. Nothing in what I wrote is slanderous. Everything is from the public domain. I have laid out my anxiety. It is for others to see the connections if they wish to.

For the record, I have always held that I have nothing against Indicorps, and, as I told you some years ago, Indicorps has certainly shaped many peoples lives for the better. My essay did not say anything about Indicorps ties to the Hindu Right. I don't believe that there are any over ties. Indicorps was not central to what I wrote on Friday.

At the center is an unease I feel about Sonal Shah's ties to the Sangh, which have not been dispelled by her statement. I am gratified by her clear notice that she does not share any ideological commitments with the Sangh, and yet: in 2004, she was the keynote speaker at a Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh youth conference (this is not a youth camp alone; the HSS is the US version of the RSS). That same year she and her siblings received an award from the Gujarat government (Modi was present when Vajpayee gave her brother the award). Amitav Ghosh refused the Commonwealth Award for events that happened decades, centuries ago. At the very least the Shahs should have taken the opportunity to make a statement about the Gujarat riots, which even the Human Rights Watch has shown to be engineered by the Modi administration. It took place only two years previously. Two thousand people were killed, many thousands more lost their livelihood and sense of self. Even this is not new. The 2002 riot was previewed in Godhra in 1993. So many groups raised money for the Gujarat earthquake in 2001. Yet Sonal Shah raised money for the VHP (there are all kinds of allegations, some better proven than others, that the VHP and the Sangh have been very biased in how they disbursed these funds).

These are not recycled facts. These are from after we spoke. One of them, the second, was in my essay. There are other such instances.

I can see why my essay has outraged so many people. It has nothing to do with "guilt by association." That is not my charge. My charge is "guilt by participation." I mentioned the parents to show Sonal Shah's context, not to hold her responsible for them. What seems to be the cause for such outrage is that I am casting a pall on a double celebration: on Obama's triumph (hardly, I remain committed to his achievement, and to the hopes that he has kindled), and on the ascension of an Indian American to very high office. This is not pleasurable for me.

I have also received hundreds of emails from people who have been on the other end of the Modi regime. For them this is not semantics. They are disheartened that anyone who gets an award from Modi and takes it can now represent change. I remain with them.

Best wishes to you,
Vijay.

[Amardeep]

The basic question here is, is Sonal Shah "communal" or not?

Despite all of Vijay Prashad's accusations (I didn't realize until reading this that this is not the first time he has levied this smear), he does not have a single word from Sonal Shah's mouth indicating that she harbors views that ordinary South Asians would consider to be communal. Not one of the dozens of people who know Sonal Shah, and who have been speaking up in the past few days on her behalf, has ever heard her say anything along these lines. These are people from various ethno-religious backgrounds, who have worked with Sonal in many different organizations.

Prashad talks about her parents at length, and now says, unpersuasively, that that paragraph was not intended as guilt by association. Prashad mentions this conference and that conference, without any knowledge of what Sonal Shah *said* at the conferences in question. Prashad mentions an award that was given to her organization, and received by her brother (Sonal Shah was not present).

Prashad mentions what he sees as her failure to adequately denounce the Gujarat riots publicly in 2004. But why would it have been necessary for a private person, who was relatively unknown at the time, to have issued such a public statement? She was not an elected official or a public spokesperson.

Though it's obvious to most of us why Sonal Shah might have hesitated to distance herself from an organization her parents were involved with, Vijay Prashad cannot seem to understand that. (She has distanced herself now, unambiguously.) It is also increasingly clear that Sonal Shah's only public role in the VHP-A was as a coordinator for earthquake relief; she left the organization after that. Is this really the darkest mark against her -- humanitarian work?

[It's worth underlining again Arun's point that Prashad's statement that Sonal Shah was the "national coordinator" for the VHP-A until 2001 is flat out false. What is strange is that earlier in the same paragraph where that assertion is made, Prashad describes her as merely an "active member" of the organization. The two statements are inconsistent, showing us once again how shoddy the factual basis of this essay is.]

In short, Prashad has not one shred of evidence that Sonal Shah presently subscribes to any of the views a communalist person would subscribe to. He has no actions -- other than humanitarian earthquake relief that involved the wrong people -- that she committed that could be described as communal. Meanwhile, Sonal Shah has a mountain of other activities and associations that are progressive and secular, and that have made a real impact among communities in need, in India (but not just in India). For fair-minded people, all of this other work outweighs that earlier, questionable choice she made in associating with the VHP-A.

More than anything else, this entire affair has been a waste of everyone's time. Why worry about exposing one person's supposed crypto-communalist beliefs and former associations when there is so much real communal hatred and violence going on in front of us every day?

[Rish Sanghvi]

An open challenge to Mr. Prashad: Can you find someone who actually knows her and has spent time with her to corroborate your caricature of her as an intolerant right-wing extremist?? I would wager my life on the fact that you cannot even come close. Her real character is such a far departure from your claims it is laughable. She has inspired not just me but an entire generation of youth, who are now galvanized across communities in India and the world over into community service. She has inspired us to look beyond race, or class or religion, and engage not just with those we agree with, but also those we disagree with, because it is the only way to bring people together. For a more complete response please read: www.rishsanghvi.blogspot.com

[ashish dimri]

Dear Sh. Venugopal,
Prof. Prashad fails to notice few things.
Indian Press is divided over Gujarat and Narender Modi.
For example, Rajeev Desai, a PR Guru opposes Modi but Suhel Seth supports him for his development work.
It will be appropraite,if he revisits Gujarat or meets his subjects!
What Ms.Shah does is of relevance,what she did is her past!
warm regards,
yours,
ashish dimri

[Dhananjay shah]

Certain media people and people like Mr.Prasad are just for Gujarat and Narendra Modi bashing. They are talking about why Sonal did not coment anything about Godhara. How many of those Human rights people give any kind of coments on bomb blasts taking place every where in India and about the Kashmiri pandits? Did Mr Prasad comented on that? What about Sikh killing after Indiara Gandhis death? Did he coment?They again started abusing RSS for the Hindu sadhvis so called involvedment in the bomb blast. Please leave Sonal alon for her good work and stop bashing Gujaratis and Gujarat

[Vijay Prashad]

If this is indeed a waste of people's time, as Amardeep Singh says, then why bother to respond?
To many, this is not a waste of time. It is important. I, like many who worked to elect Obama, believe that it is important to ensure that this administration not succumb to the politics as usual (Obama today has announced that Warren Christopher will lead the transition into the State Department -- one has only to look at his role under Clinton, and his role in the 2000 Florida recount to bemoan this choice ). [From SAJAforum Editor: The report about Warren Christopher serving on the transition team was false: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gb9AHikDNKCpRxyixmPpvwS7VVfwD94DG3V80]

This is also not a waste of time to those who remain concerned about communalism in general.
About the VHPA: Shyam Tiwari, media sec of the VHP, says, "Sonal was a member of the VHP of America at the time of the earthquake. Her membership has expired." The earthquake was in 2001, eight years after the 1993 riots in Gujarat, when the VHP's role was clear to all. It transpired that the money raised for this earthquake by the VHP did not go to Muslim victims, but only to Hindus. That is a concern to me.
On the EV and the HSS: Sonal Shah spoke at their events in 2004, two years after the Gujarat riots. At neither did she make her differences clear with those hard right, communal organizations.
On the 2004 award: I made it clear that Sonal Shah was not there to receive the award, but it was taken in her name. No statement at that time to distinguish herself from the Modi regime. I would say the same of anyone who receives an award from the Bush government, or from Milosevic when he ran Serbia. Why take an award from the hands of people like this? The gold standard is set by people like Amitav Ghosh, who declined the Commonwealth Award, and Le Duc Tho, who declined the Nobel Prize for Peace, saying that his country was still at war. These are gestures that show moral judgment, not the turpitude on display by those who take awards from killers of different sorts.
By the way, a national coordinator is also an active member. That is not contradictory. It would be contradictory to be the national coordinator and not an active member.
Best Wishes,
Vijay.

[Mira Kamdar]

I spent much of the weekend in a long e-mail discussion about the articles that had appeared in the Indian press about Sonal Shah (aforementioned articles in Times of India and Hindustan Times) as well as links on the VHP-A and the HSS websites to her. The participants included a group of very distinguished professors, artists and intellectuals in India and in the United States. Several are strong supporters of Sonal Shah who have spoken out on her behalf. I will not name any here as it was a private discussion but I will flag this posting and leave it to any of them to respond. Discussants were concerned, and several remain concerned, by the issues raised.

We had a very civil and productive discussion, leaving aside aggressive interventions by a self-appointed defender of Ms. Shah which frankly shocked several of us by their tone. Aside from this individual, we agreed she needed to make a statement clarifying her past associations with the Sangh Pariwar. I for one felt this was essential in terms of protecting the credibility of the incoming Obama administration, forget about her own individual reputation. The transition team also became convinced of this and worked feverishly, as I understand from close sources, to craft one.

After the team did issue a statement on her behalf, our group concluded our discussion and took no further action, even though her statement did not really answer what I and some others still feel are legitimate questions about her past, documented associations with the VHP-A and the HSS. The group was neither unanimously nor entirely satisfied with the statement.

Now, let me be clear that I am perfectly ready to believe that Sonal Shah is a fine, honorable, dedicated person. I don't know. I don't know her. I trust that she is and that she is making a fantastic contribution to the transition team. Let me also be clear that "visiting the sins of the father" on the daughter is not my thing. I too have a father with unconscionable views sympathetic to the Hindu right, and I have written about that.

But let me also be clear that when someone is playing a public role in a democratic government or proto-government, it is not only legitimate, it is necessary for citizens to ask questions about any aspect of that person's past or present conduct that might negatively impact their role. Let's also leave aside the factual basis or not of the articles in the Indian press. The fact is, these articles were highly damaging to the incoming administration, sending a very bad signal at the outset of its new relationship with India. This is what concerned me and why I delved into it further. This was why a statement became necessary.

I did some internet rummaging, as we all do now, and found Sonal Shah mentioned on the VHP-A website with her phone number as the national coordinator for the earthquake relief effort in 2001. That linkage has been explained by Ms. Shah and her supporters as simply part of an enthusiastic and concerned reaction to the earthquake disaster. Ms. Shah claims never to have held any office in, ever been a member of, or otherwise associated herself with the VHP-A. I am ready to take her at her word.

Still, I also found her on the website of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in an account of her attendance and speech as "chief guest" at the HSS's annunal youth congress in 2004. Here is the link: http://www.hssus.org/content/view/35/2/
Here is an excerpt from the page:

"Srimati Sonal Shah was the chief guest and concluded the day with a definitely "awakening" in the youth. Through her humorous yet serious talk, she exposed the hypocrisy of the western way of life highlighting its wasteful ways and compared them to the simpler but more genuine life in India. She mentioned how Indians would sacrifice whatever they had for their guests but we in the west cannot even sacrifice a little time for them. Her message was simple but inspiring and paved the way for the all attending the conference to begin thinking about what they can do to help."

Now, let's leave aside what she actually said. I'm willing to believe it was quite different from what is rather chillingly described here by the HSS. However, I find the fact that she would even accept this invitation alarming, and her acceptance has not been explained. To ask this question is not to participate in a smear - she doesn't deny speaking at this venue. It is not "silly rumor" or "innuendo." As far as I can tell, it is a fact. It is a fact I for one find really difficult to understand and which begs for an explanation. How could someone who grew up in a household with parents active in Sangh-affiliated groups, including the RSS, not know what the HSS was -- in 2004, at the age of 36? How could that person then accept to speak at that organization's summer youth camp - an exercise, in my view, of indoctrination and propaganda? This is like someone saying they accepted an invitation to speak at an annual meeting of the Ku Klux Klan because it was a chance to talk to youth! I ask readers to imagine if a Muslim American of any national origin had spoken at a similar Islamist organization's summer conference for youth (assuming such are allowed to operate) what the reaction would be? I guarantee there'd be questions galore!

Like most citizens in a democracy the size of ours, I do not know personally every person being named to the transition team or the incoming administration. For those I don't know, I really on what information I can get. The angry indignation expressed by some friends of Ms. Shah's based on how well they know her and how close a friend of hers they are is entirely misplaced. It has nothing to do with the issue of her explaining to the American people how she, a member of an elected, incoming administration came to work with or speak for such groups.

Despite the fact that her statement leaves me unsatisfied on the point above, I am ready to accept she has no political sympathies at all with the Sangh and condemns their actions. I have no reason to doubt this is true. My intention is to drop this and move on. In fact, if I wouldn't even write this if I didn't think it was important to make the points I have just made in light of the initial and several of the subsequent postings. I very much want the Obama administration to succeed. I wept when he was elected, and I think it is an amazing chance for our country to get back on track. Still, calling every effort to get the truth about documented links to Sangh-related groups a "smear" or belittling every speck of information on this as "rumor" or "innuendo" is a reaction that does Ms. Shah no good service and does our democracy even less.

Given the sickening sectarian violence going on in India right now and the "saffron-dollar" connection to funding the groups perpetrating that violence, given that the issue of granting a visa to Narendra Modi is bound to come up again during the Obama presidency, I think it is not only right but a duty to look carefully into any NRI connection with these groups which are so active in the United States now, and so good at cloaking themselves as mere "cultural" or "religious" organizations. In fact, it is my hope that the whole Sonal Shah crisis will afford an opportunity to look into how the VHP-A and the HSS and other such organizations operating across the country do catch, every day, honorable, entirely well-meaning people on their sticky webs.

Mira Kamdar

[Shaik Ubaid]

The controversy was started and fueled by the gloating and celebrations in the RSS/VHP circles who have been slowly infiltrating the power centers in the US after having taken over most of the NRI trade and professional associations.

Sonal Shah could have ended this controversy by issuing an emphatic condemnation of VHP and its hate politics that have led to pogroms in Gujarat, Orissa and scores of other places. She could have atleast paid lip service to the need for justice and rehabilitational aid for the victims of rapes and ethnic cleansing. Instead she attacked those who are concerned about the politics of hate and the pogroms it unleashes. She could have reassured us that the gloatings in the RSS circles that she will work to revoke the ban on US visa to Modi are unfounded. She could have condemned the misuse of the funds raised by her for the VHP that were meant to aid the victims of Gujarat earthquake. She should have but did not.

I am still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt if she does the above as any decent person should.

Obama's elections mean so much to the world. This controversy is hurting his legacy and may dampen the hope and enthusiasm of his young supporters. Sonal Shah owes this to the President elect to come clean.

Shaik Ubaid

[Alvir]

I was a volunteer with Indicorps some time ago for a year, and had the opportunity to work with rural youth in a village a few hours away from Udaipur in Rajasthan. The youth program focused on getting students from both above and below the poverty line, to participate in activities together. The program involved organizing a secondary school that taught varied subjects (Geography, General Knowledge, Hindi, English, Health/Sanitation (etc). Among the many other activities the youth program worked on were the creation of a football team that had tournaments and matches against other villages, the organization of community plays and events, girls empowerment workshops, health awareness workshops and field trips to the Udaipur.

My experience with Indicorps is nothing but positive. It gave me the opportunity to leave the America I was brought up in, and to experience India in a way that was not like a family visit or a touristy trip. I have both the Shahs and Indicorps to thank for this experience. That being said, since my time with Indicorps, I have never been pushed to support/believe ANY ideology by Sonal, Roopal and Anand Shah (founders of Indicorps), or anyone associated with them. They did however wholeheartedly support the value of service, simple living and a united India.

I want to congratulate Sonal on her recent appointment to Obama’s Transition Team. I find it unfortunate that there are multiple unfounded attacks on her. It seems that the internet not only has the potential of spreading awareness, it also provides people with the opportunity to have their own personal McCarthy era option switch. Especially in the public sphere accusations can be enough. I hope people are analytical to see beyond the juicy gossip of the day and question the sources of what they read.

That being said, I came across a site that offers some additional information to the controversy ... http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php

[academia]

Eminent Indians speak up in support of Sonal Shah: 'We are dismayed by attempts to draw Sonal Shah's name into needless controversy by questioning her ideological affiliations and to make utterly false accusations against her'

We, the undersigned, are dismayed by attempts to draw Sonal Shah’s name into needless controversy by questioning her ideological affiliations and to make utterly false accusations against her. We do not want to speculate on the motives behind these stories. We simply want to set the record straight on the following propositions.

1. All of us have known Sonal for considerable periods of time and can affirm this without reservation: She does not in any way support, excuse, condone, justify or do special pleading for political groups that foment hate and/or engage in the kind of violence that was perpetrated in Gujarat. Associating her with the RSS and VHP is an outrageous attempt to insinuate doubt about her commitment to human rights, toleration and the rule of law. There is no reason whatsoever to take these insinuations seriously. You can judge Sonal for yourself. But we urge you not to judge her by false and misleading media reports.

2. There is something dangerous about the politics of innuendo being carried out against Sonal. It unfairly tarnishes her excellent moral reputation, and is therefore a great violation of her rights as an individual. Such projections of guilt by innuendo are deeply corrosive of public discourse.

3. None of the stories we have seen give evidence for thinking that Sonal has any political affiliations or beliefs that will come in the way of discharging the responsibilities of whatever office she may occupy. It would be deeply wrong if participation in collecting earthquake relief, or one invitation to speak at some organization would be considered enough to disqualify her for office. Yet ill-informed individuals and groups are using these stories to suggest just this. She has expressly distanced herself and criticized ideologies of hate and division, and that is consistent with her professional conduct and outlook.

4. It is ironic that some people who claim to be defending toleration and the rights of all individuals should be engaged in this campaign. It suggests, tragically, that some of them are less interested in these values and more interested in using them to foment needless controversy.

5. We do not have to argue own cause, but all of us have been, in their own way, as deeply committed to the cause of a secular liberal India as any. Some of us have been at the receiving end of the politics of hate the VHP and RSS foment. But we are dismayed when talented individuals like Sonal, with a record of accomplishment, are unfairly targeted by people who allegedly are acting in the name of liberal values.

6. We urge that liberal civility be restored and individuals like Sonal not be unfairly targeted.

Sincerely,

Pratap Bhanu Mehta
President, Centre for Policy Research

Tarun Das
Chief Mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry

Devesh Kapur
Director, Center for Advanced Studies of India, The University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan
Convenor, Lok Satta Party

Ajay G. Piramal
Chairman, Piramal Enterprises Limited

Pankaj Chandra
Director, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

Reuben Abraham
Professor, Indian School of Business

Roopa Purushothaman
Head, Future Capital Research

Veena Siddharth
Vice President, International Division, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Former Asia Division Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch

[Bilaal Ahmed]

Back in 2004, it was Sonal Shah who was my inspiration for starting a Pakistan volunteer program, later mentoring me to help make that vision a reality. Impak is now an active service corps program that addresses some of Pakistan's most pressing challenges, including relief following the 2005 South Asia earthquake.

Sonal, along with her brother Anand and sister Roopal, have always been available when we've had a question or requested a meeting. I remember her making time at cafe at midnight in Manhattan when a colleague and I were in driving from DC to Connecticut. When I would catch her in DC, often unannounced, she would take time out to listen to my challenges and concerns and consistently offer solid advice. She always gave more than I expected and encouraged me to tap into Indicorps's resources.

There has already been an outpouring of support from people of all backgrounds in support of Sonal. It is clear that the smears against her are baseless and contradict everything that she has worked for and believed in. As a Pakistani-American who has been dedicated to promoting development in Pakistan, I have always found a stalwart supporter in Sonal.

Let me be absolutely clear: Sonal Shah has wanted nothing but the best for Pakistan and its Muslims.

Her ideas and vision go beyond ethnic and religious divisions and instead puts emphasis on progress, development, and the power of the individual. The fact that President-Elect Obama has selected her speaks to his campaign of change, inclusiveness, and community. I believe that Sonal is a fantastic addition to the Obama transition team and someone that all South Asians can be especially proud of.

Congratulations, Sonal. We at Impak will support you as you have always supported us.

[Ramesh Rao]

I too voted for Obama, but I am not interested in outing the anti-Hindu Vijay Prashad and Mira Kamdar as "communist and Islamo-fascist sympathizers who seek to erase Hinduism's primary influence on the sub-continent". Having started a cottage industry of demonizing anyone who publicly proclaims himself/herself a Hindu, or is a member of any Hindu organization, the Vijay Prashads and Mira Kamdars are the mirror reflection of those on the right, and I mean the American right -- the Rush Limbaughs, the Ann Coulters, and the Sean Hannitys who are out on a project of destruction and who believe in the sanctity and supremacy of their ideological purity. Oh, what joy! Welcome President-elect Obama to the hatred of the extreme Left who now claim to be part of your team and who have already begun demanding their pound of flesh!

[Knight]

I had so much hope for what Obama had brought to fore; a change in leadership. I am beginning to doubt the change that is being brought about. I wonder if this change will bring more of the same or truely change the world, where individuals regardless of their religion, caste, racial heritage can work together towards moving it forward.

[Partha Banerjee]

As an Indian-American who worked hard for the Obama victory, I'm troubled by the allegations around Sonal Shah, especially if there's indeed a nexus.

However, I'd also be greatly troubled if it was another ploy by renegade anti-Hindu extremists (and the far left) to tarnish Shah and consequently, the Obama administration, whom they don't like in the first place (I've had my share of disagreements with them); my fear is that only the corporate media and right wing Republicans will take advantage of the fiasco.

I very well know RSS, BJP and VHP and their modus operandi; I've written about my long, past association with them in my little book. I'm aghast at their dark politics of violence and hate. At the same time, I'm also deeply disturbed by unfounded assertions and personal ego-trips by far left scholars who wouldn't spare a moment to blast others on filmsy charges. It could be that Sonal Shah is now one such prime target.

I'd go a step even beyond that. In spite of my lifelong, emotional strife about my nearly two decades of past connection with RSS, as well as my strongly-built antipathy about its sociopolitical doctrines, I don't believe that merely having a familial connection with BJP or VHP makes an otherwise secular, talented and efficient person guilty by association. One can have a straight talk with Shah about her views about OFBJP, HSS and VHP, and I have a feeling they would be pleasantly surprised with her answers. We'd welcome such a candid conversation.

Contrarily, the so-called secular Congress Party's hands are smeared with blood from the many communal riots and genocides including the 1984 Sikh carnage and 60's Assam carnage. It's a strange irony that Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, is now the leader of the Congress Party -- a prime minister who was complicit in his actions to acquit some of the known murderers and butchers of innocent Sikh men, women and children. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the mastermind of the Assam carnage, was awarded with a president's position long ago.

And the less we talk about other religious extremists in South Asia, the better. Yes, I'm talking about Muslim and Christian extremists too.

P.S. -- It's an utmost irony that RSS, BJP and VHP (and a more fascistic group Shiv Sena -- even its acronym SS is uncanny) are now most powerful in the Western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra; it's ironic because Gandhi, a Gujarati, was assassinated by an ex-RSS member Nathuram Godse, who was from Maharashtra. But that's another story.

###

[Vijay Prashad]

Over the past few days I've received a thousand or so emails. Some of these have been nasty (≥I want to cut off your ten fingers≈), others simply angry (≥how could you write such nonsense≈). And yet, many, many others that were moving (from survivors of the Gujarat riots, or else people who have worked to end the soft and hard fascism of the Hindu Right).

Some people accused me of disparaging Indicorps, which I did not do in the essay, and have not done in general.

There were some errors in the essay. One of which had faulty grammar and mistakenly called the Gujarati Samaj a cruel organization. I am sorry for that. It was inadvertent.

I have received phone calls from people who tell me that there is a rumor being spread by people in the Democratic establishment that I am a liar. Everything I have said is in the public record. So be it.

Be that as it may. Here is another essay, briefer and, I hope, clearer.

November 13, 2008
Sonal Shah's Membership Has Expired
Guilt by Participation

By VIJAY PRASHAD

Barack Obama≠s victory in the U. S. presidential election warmed the hearts of millions around the world. When Jesse Jackson wept, I cried too. I had worked for Jackson≠s campaign in 1988. With Jackson≠s defeat came the long hibernation of American progressivism. Obama≠s victory awoke that tradition. A few days later Obama began to announce his transition team. The names were not from the progressive tradition, but from the more cautious, even conservative side of the Democratic Party. In the list I saw the name Sonal Shah.

For more, please go to:

http://www.counterpunch.org/prashad11132008.html

[HCS]

I for one don't understand the world of academics and professors. However with that said - not knowing Sonal Shah or not understanding the underbelly of political discourses, I can't help but feel a twinge of self promotion in Vijay Prashads writing. Everybody has a story - everyone has an agenda.

I think the question he raises and the dialogue he's starting is a healthy discussion and something that us as Indians should be ok with after all that is how we grow as a nation and as a people.

However starting the dialogue on the coat tails of someone else's career highlight or as a "spark" in my honest opinion dilutes the purity of your questions. Also it doesn't take a genius to figure out - with a little research on the smear blogs it's no coincidence Vijay sir that your folks are behind them and the same people that are part of your "posse" have made a concentrated and organized effort to "spark" this dialogue but dragging somebody's name and hard work thru the mud.

You have your own motives not to mention a book being published, I was a fan of yours until you used this "spark". Now sir you have become simply the same as a the others trying to gain traction by fear and divisive words.

After all that we have been thru in this election - you sir had the opportunity to raise the level of discourse and start a conversation that could have made an impact but you went for what you perceived an easy target, all the while dragging your reputation thru the mud you started flinging. Now is not the time to double down on your tactic - we know where that road goes.

I don't come from your world - I am the average Jagdish the engineer, and this is the perception that you have given to all of us in the middle. I hope something in this un-academic rambling clicks and you keep your hard work and reputation intact. After all, you sir have done a great services to our people as well.

respect.

[Vincent John]

I am very saddened by the fact that some Indians try pulling other Indians for their own vested intreasts and narcissistic personality of " I want to build the empire". Any type of intolerance, religious or leftist should be condemned. Why get jealous about somebody's achievement and throw tantrums. My advice to Mr.Prashad and the likes of him is to get a life and if they are so bothered about the situation in india they should come here rather than sitting in USA. Can there be any bigger hypocrats than these bunch of losers. Being a Christian my sympathies lie with this poor lady, is it a crime to be a Hindu? Just wondering.

[javier mestizo]

the outrage of these sensationalized slanders lies in the opportunistic betrayal of a south asian sister of whom we should be very proud. the lack of substance in these ridiculous attacks are even worse than the statements made by sarah palin directed toward the honorable president obama regarding bill ayers. shallow, shameful, and saddening, the negative energy perpetrated by people like this is exactly what we are striving to overcome. may president obama and miss sonal shah continue to inspire us with their tireless commitment and service to humanity.

[Durba Ghosh]

Hooray for Mira Kamdar's post and reminding us of the responsibilities we all bear in a democracy. We should constantly be questioning, researching, deliberating. Such are the responsibilities we bear in civil society.

Knowing Sonal Shah or not knowing her should not be the grounds on which we claim authority to speak (as the writers of "academia" seem to suggest). This is the kind of sloppy argument that university professors would fail in an undergraduate paper. (It turns out that George Bush is a nice, affable person who is a uniter, not a divider, but his congenial personality did not translate well in the wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Sonal Shah has done a lot of good in the world, and her work with Indicorps, her support of Indian-American youth is surely testament to her well-intentioned philanthropic and charitable efforts. I have no doubt that she is an inspring and kind person. I do, however, think that she is no longer "just" a private citizen -- she has been appointed to a position of some public responsibility and it is incumbent on us to understand that she is worthy of that public trust.

We have yet to hear why she accepted an invitation to speak to a youth organization that was sponsored by the HSS, or to allow Indicorps to accept an award from Narendra Modi, all in 2004. At a conference at Yale in 2005, she admitted that Indicorps had received funding from Sangh Parivar groups but offered little explanation for that except that funding was hard to come by.

I can accept her disavowals of RSS-VHP ideologies, but I wonder why the RSS was so keen to host a reception in her honor when she was appointed to the Obama team last week.

See the report in the Deccan Herald:

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov112008/scroll20081111100142.asp?section=updatenews

[Sheetal Chhabria]

1.)Criticism of humanitarian work - I think what Sonal Shah doesn't seem to understand is that merely running Indicorps and claiming she has done nothing political (from her own statement) and only humanitarian is a misrepresentation. The RSS for example, in India, has a lot of "sevak this" and "sevak that" organizations. We know that their work is often biased in that the service goes to poor Hindu communities, or Dalits, and has a component of evangelism within it. The sevak organizations, also are prone to getting outraged at Hindu poverty in India, but when that study came out a few years ago showing that Muslims were the most socio-economically marginalized group in India, aka "the new Dalits," the sevak organizations were notoriously silent or absent or even defensive. This is not so dissimilar to evangelical groups going down to New Orleans to secure a Christian base.

So if Sonal Shah can just say that she understands humanitarian work doesn't happen in a vacuum, that it exists within a social situation in which relief workers make social choices with political implications, that as an Obama-girl she is very well aware of the diversity of communities within India, and as a person of her new power within the transition team she will do what she can to encourage and maintain that diversity and learn about it rather than favoring current or potential Hindus, then I would be satisfied, happy for her, and ready to do whatever I could to help her.

2.)The point is, this drama is actually really easy for Sonal Shah to solve, but that it has gone on this long without her solving it is alarming. Her not addressing it leads me to believe she is unaware that politics means more than holding political office, and that there are local conflicts in India she may not even be aware that humanitarian work exaggerates or even creates by providing much needed resources such as aid and helping hands to one particular group.

Choosing to remain silent over the Gujarat carnage a few years ago, with someone with so much power to speak is however the most insidious form of complicity. That I did not make a public statement denouncing the carnage is not the same as her silence. I have no audience, or place to speak. Sonal Shah however did back then, and she really does now, in fact even more so now. So why is she silent?

[Sahil Mehta]

It is interesting to note how Vijay Prashad changed his tone against Sonal Shah now that lot of reputed personalities criticized him for his insensible notes on Sonal. So now he and his likes want Sonal Shah to publically state that she is against Gujarat violence.

Well didn't she already said that she is against violence and doesn't share ideology with RSS? It is amply clear that she has done great humanitarian work which very few people do in real life. It is also amply clear that there is no evidence, whatsoever, against her indicating her involvement in any violent activity allegedly committed by RSS/VHP. So why does she need to defend her further? For the satisfaction of Vijay Prashad and his likes?

If that is the case, every communist should start speaking up against every single crime that the communists did and are doing. If they don't speak up, as per their own logic, they should be also considered guilty of those crimes, atleast idealogically.

[ravi]

CSFH statement on Sonal Shah [http://www.stopfundinghate.org]
A virtual melee has ensued in print and digital media over the selection of Ms. Sonal Shah, an American of Indian origin to the Obama transition team’s advisory board. Shrill accusations of Ms. Shah being a “racist and Hindu chauvinist” are being reciprocated by equally shrill attempts to portray anyone who raises serious questions about the selection as being anti-India, anti-Hindu, anti-progress, and recently, as against “liberal civility.” We condemn such baseless and unfair statements.

At the outset we wish to acknowledge that Ms. Shah has had a record of being a visible and an important face of the “desi American” community - a successful professional, and a politically and socially engaged citizen.

[read more at http://www.stopfundinghate.org or http://sanghsamachar.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/csfh-statement-on-sonal-shah]

[ashishdimri]

Dear Sh. Venugopal,
Thanks to SAJA,Indian media is divided over Ms. Shah.
One can read a lot about her in different newspapers.
H.T. informs-Sonal Shah denied any link with RSS .

Some prominent intellectuals such as Prof.Pratap Bhanu Mehta have opposed vendetta against Ms. Shah in harsher terms(Times Of India).

Interestingly ,many Modi bashers or supporters have never been to Gujarat or interacted with some one who is based in hinterland!

May good sense prevails!
yours sincerely,
ashish dimri

[Bhamy V Shenoy]

Time to stand for Sonal against the virulent attack by three “progressive” organizations

Dear Sir,


When we the Indo-Americans in Houston learnt about the selection of Sonal Shah as one of the 15 member Obama’s Transition team, we were happy and proud of her achievement. Later we were shell-shocked when we found out about the virulent attack on her choice by the self styled ‘progressive” groups such as Coalition against Genocide, Indian American Coalition for Pluralism, Non Resident Indians for a Secular and Harmonious India.

These “progressive” groups seem to be intoxicated with their victory of preventing the issuance of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Though many of us did not fully agree with such an extreme step, we could appreciate the spirit behind it and even had some appreciation for their principled stand. All of us were shocked and even shamed by Godhra massacre. However with their latest attempt to discredit a reputed and highly accomplished Sonal Shah, they would have lost what little credibility they might have had with a majority of secularists like us. How could they stoop down to connect Sonal with Godhra or recent killings of Christians with Ekal Vidyalaya through such innuendos?

Sonal Shah who had graduated from Houston and whose parents live in Houston is known to all those NRIs involved in contributing to India’s development along with her brother Anand and sister Roopal. These three have devoted their considerable talents and time to work on various activities to contribute to India’s development. Just two are illustrative of their dedication.

Indicorps started by Sonal and Anand recruits young volunteers from the US to work with NGOs in India. Indicorps has accomplished a lot and recognized by many organizations including Indian Government. Sonal was honored by India Abroad as “Person of the year” for her contribution in 2003. Will these “progressive” organizations continue to boycott India Abroad as fundamentalist since their strategy seems to depend upon finding one harmful through guilt-by-association? Some prominent personalities from India like industrialist Piramal, Jayaprakash Narayan of Loksatta, Tarun Das of CII, professors from IIM and ISB have strongly condemned the attack on Sonal in a joint press release.

Ekal Vidyalaya an NGO dedicated to spread literacy in tribal and remote villages through single teacher schools is a great success. Shahs have played a key role in its development. It is true that it may not be as secular as other equally well known educational NGOs like Pratham or Asha. The very fact of the association of Abid Hussein, former Indian Ambassador to US with Ekal shows that it is not a fundamentalist organization as being portrayed by these “progressive” groups.

While Sonal professional contributions have been outstanding through her work at Anderson Consulting, Goldman Sachs, Treasury Department during Clinton’s presidency by working in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Indonesia and currently as Vice President at Google, her NGO work through George Soros Foundation, Omidayar Network and Tsunami tragedy should be a model for the youth. Her brother Anand after graduating from Harvard did not attempt to cash his credentials to earn a six figure salary like most of us. He went to India looking for opportunities to serve the poor.

Being long term residents of Houston, some of us know Sonal’s family for the last 30 years. Some of us were surprised by her father Ramesh Shah’s affiliation with VHP America and had argued with him about it. We were happy to learn that he was against Modi’s Godhra massacre and he wished that it had not happened.

We never found Ramesh to be a fundamentalist in his views. We have also had discussions with his children about their parent’s affiliation with VHP and were happy to learn that their involvement was marginal at best and they never looked at the problem from a narrow “hindutva” point of view. It has become a fad for “progressive” groups to show how they are the only groups who are broadminded and others who have different opinions are narrow minded bigots.

It is ironical that they quote Mahatma Gandhi’s from his book My Experiment with Truth “It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow-beings" while the “progressives” are indulging in such a humiliation task in Sonal’s case.

The three “progressive” groups protesting Sonal’s appointment are not really concerned about the unintended consequences of their stand resulting in further divisiveness and hatred in NRI community. Mahatma even while disagreeing with his opponents was always humble enough to understand and appreciate them. On the other hand these progressives have been trying to pour venom by raising unconnected incidents as background to create demonic personality of Sonal. Obama’s Republican opponents also tried to create such an ugly view of him by giving guilt-by-association examples of his long time pastor. Perhaps this may be the beginning of the rapid end for this progressive movement when NRI community consisting of secular thinking majority sees their real design of sowing hatred and divisiveness like the fundamentalist jihadis.

Yours sincerly.

Bhamy V. Shenoy
(former president of ICC)

Jagat Kamdar
(Co-host of Open Forum)

[Chander]

The very fact that Campaign Against Genocide is against Sonal Shah tells me that we should all support Sonal Shah's nomination in the President Elect transition team. CAG is a leftist and communist organization, pure and simple. We Indian Americans are not going to fall fall for the crap coming from CAG.