SAJAforum

CONV: Q&A with Dr. Reza Aslan

Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, was the keynote speaker at the SAJA 15th Anniversary Scholarship and Awards Dinner on Saturday.
The  author of "How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror," shared his views on the events unfolding in Iran, media, and President Obama in a conversation with SAJA blogger Sweta Vohra.

What is the role of South Asian and Middle Eastern voices in Western media?

In the 21st century we are going to be a multi-polar world, and what’s going to shape the Western World is going to come out of Middle East and South Asia, even Southeast Asia. We can’t have outsiders speak. The key is to have people within the diaspora bridge that divide, those who have their foot in both cultures and who can speak to their indigenous culture, customs, etc. And they can do it with the confidence that American media requires.

Can you speak briefly about the recent events in Iran and what this means for the future of the country?

Iran is at a precipice. Iran is going to look different and its either going to be more militaristic and isolationist or it could nationalistic and democratic. Whatever it is, its going to be a very long process. This is a war of attrition and it’s going to happen in the back holes of power. We should try to shy away from the media narrative that the uprising is over because its really just beginning. What we do know is we’re on a path to greater openness that can be slowed but not stopped; this is a population largely under 30 that is politically sophisticated and highly educated. This is a generation in change.

Is there a bias here in America towards the Middle East, or the muslim world in general?

I do think there is definitely a bias towards the Middle East – a narrow focus. The Middle East does not represent the muslim world. In fact, the muslim world exists outside of that and that term should not even be used. Communities of muslims around the world is the term to be used.

You have spoken about how the younger generation in America encompasses a much more globalized point of view of the world. 

I call this generation the "under 45s.” The formative experience of America up until now was WWII which for many generations defined American values and in many ways, America’s place in the world. But “under 45s”, thanks to Obama, have more of a role in defining these same values. They grew up in an Internet and globalized world where the world is a single space. Yes, they are nationalistic but have a whole different idea of patriotism.

So what is the responsibility of young journalists in the American media?

Well, they know what their responsibility is – it’s to inform people about global events. But the challenge is to do it in interesting ways and to convince people that what happens there matters here. There is still a majority of people who use “ink to paper” to get their news but for “under 45s,” the news is synonymous with opinion. The challenge to young people is to combine the reliability and responsibility of mainstream media with the immediacy and accessibility of new media technology.

You’ve already spoken a lot about the change under Obama – is this a more positive change?

Yes. It is different because he’s member of the generation that I’m talking about. And, he is the most powerful man in the world. He shares values that we have. He’s globalized, and he looks at world through the lens of decades not weeks. Obama said he is a “citizen of world” while someone like Newt Gingrich says “I’m not a citizen of the world.” You know what, Newt? That’s why you are irrelevant. That is why your thinking is irrelevant. Having Obama is having someone who gets it.

2008 ELECTION: South Asians voted overwhelmingly for Obama

AALDEF, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has finally started releasing its analysis of exit polls from the presidential election, last November. Its breakdown for Michigan and Pennsylvania indicate that South Asians almost unanimously voted for Barack Obama, beating even the extremely pro-Democratic projections that we posted here, prior to the election. Here's the info for Michigan:

AALDEF surveyed a total of 1,621 Asian and Arab American voters in Ann Arbor, Canton, Dearborn, Detroit, Hamtramck, Novi, and Troy.  The five largest ethnic groups surveyed were Asian Indian (25%), Arab (24%), Chinese (23%), Bangladeshi (15%), and Korean (5%).  Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters were foreign-born naturalized U.S. citizens, and 8% had no formal U.S. education.  Forty-three percent (43%) were first-time voters.

The majority of Asian and Arab Americans voted for Democratic candidate Barack Obama for President. Nearly nine out of ten (88%) Asian and Arab Americans supported Democratic candidate Barack Obama for President.  Ten percent (10%) voted for Republican candidate John McCain, and 2% voted for other candidates.  Arab and South Asian American voters gave Obama the most support, with 97% and 94% of those polled, respectively, voting for the Democratic candidate.  Chinese American voters also supported Obama, but at lower rates, with 76% of those polled voting for the Democratic candidate, and 22% for McCain.

And here's the AALDEF exit poll info for Pennsylvania:

AALDEF surveyed a total of 518 Asian American voters in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks Counties.  The five largest ethnic groups surveyed were Chinese (47%), Asian Indian (19%), Vietnamese (10%), Korean (8%), and Cambodian (5%).  Seventy percent (70%) of voters were foreign-born naturalized U.S. citizens, and 24% had no formal U.S. education.  Thirty-two percent (32%) were first-time voters.
 
The majority of Asian Americans voted for Democratic candidate Barack Obama for President.  Nearly four out of five (79%) Asian Americans polled in Pennsylvania supported Democratic candidate Barack Obama for President.  Twenty percent (20%) voted for Republican candidate John McCain, and 1% voted for other candidates.  Among Asian ethnic groups, South Asians gave Obama the most support, with 92% of those polled voting for the Democratic candidate.  Chinese Americans also supported the Democratic candidate, with 87% of those polled voting for Obama, and 12% for McCain.  Southeast Asians were evenly divided between the candidates, with 50% of those polled voting for Obama, and 50% for McCain.

NEPAL: Perspectives on the Political Crisis and the "State of the Maoist State"

This past week, the ongoing peace process in Nepal has experienced perhaps its most serious test to date, as the simmering conflict between and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known by his nom de guerre, "Prachanda") and Chief of Army Staff Rookmangad Katawal reached a breaking point.

Dahal attempted to fire Katawal -- over the objections of his party's coalition partners, who protested the absence of the consensus required by Nepal's interim constitution -- for alleged insubordination. In response, Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav ordered Katawal not to leave office, leading to public demonstrations by Dahal's supporters and, ultimately, Dahal's decision to resign as prime minister.

Yadav's response has been criticized as "short-sighted, ill conceived and irresponsible," and arguably unconstitutional. But in a column published today in Republica, former UN official Kulchandra Gautam argues that Yadav "possibly helped prevent a major national disaster by his difficult but thoughtful decision not to lend constitutional legitimacy to a seemingly unconstitutional and unilateral act of the ruling political party."

The constitutionality of Yadav's decision -- and perhaps implicitly, of Dahal's initial attempt to fire Katawal -- is now before Nepal's Supreme Court; the ultimate shape of Nepal's next government remains uncertain.

In a lengthy article written just before the onsent of the present crisis, Kanak Mani Dixit, editor and publisher of Himal Southasian, offers a critical assessment of the state of Nepal's ongoing peace process and the performance of its Maoist-led government more generally:

This past week, the ongoing peace process in Nepal has experienced perhaps its most serious test to date, as the simmering conflict between and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known by his nom de guerre, "Prachanda") and Chief of Army Staff Rookmangad Katawal reached a breaking point.

Dahal attempted to fire Katawal -- over the objections of his party's coalition partners, who protested the absence of the consensus required by Nepal's interim constitution -- for alleged insubordination. In response, Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav ordered Katawal not to leave office, leading to public demonstrations by Dahal's supporters and, ultimately, Dahal's decision to resign as prime minister.

Yadav's response has been criticized as "short-sighted, ill conceived and irresponsible," and arguably unconstitutional. But in a column published today in Republica, former UN official Kulchandra Gautam argues that Yadav "possibly helped prevent a major national disaster by his difficult but thoughtful decision not to lend constitutional legitimacy to a seemingly unconstitutional and unilateral act of the ruling political party."

The constitutionality of Yadav's decision -- and perhaps implicitly, of Dahal's initial attempt to fire Katawal -- is now before Nepal's Supreme Court; the ultimate shape of Nepal's next government remains uncertain.

In a lengthy article written just before the onsent of the present crisis, Kanak Mani Dixit, editor and publisher of Himal Southasian, offers a critical assessment of the state of Nepal's ongoing peace process and the performance of its Maoist-led government more generally:

INDIAN ELECTIONS: New York photographer Jay Mandal beaten by political mob

UPDATE, Wednesday, May 6, 2009:

SAJAforum spoke directly to Jay Mandal at the Kolkata nursing home where he is recovering and is in good spirits, all things considered. He is lucky to be alive. His shoulder and knee are injured, but he insists that he will be in Delhi for an assignment he's had scheduled for some time now.

Listen to a 15-minute conversation Mandal had with Sree Sreenivasan of SAJAforum:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Also available as an MP3 file

[You are welcome to repost the audio or quote from anything said in the conversation]

ORIGINAL POST, Tuesday, May 5, 2009:

Photographer Jay Mandal, a frequent contributor to SAJAforum who covers events throughout the US and India (seen here with former president Bush), was beaten up while covering an election gathering in West Bengal. From Rediff.com, where he serves as Contributing Photographer:

Bengal-born, New York-based Mandal was covering a meeting convened by the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Tamluk, Rajyashree Chowdhury. Nandigram is part of the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency. The meeting was attended by BJP national spokesperson S S Ahluwalia among others.

Shortly after the meeting got underway, a group of men on motorcycles wearing Trinamool Congress headbands attacked the rally. On seeing Mandal photographing the attack, they pounced on him, snatched his cameras, smashed them and injured him badly.

More from The Telegraph, for which Mandal also works:

About 40 motorcycle-borne Trinamul Congress activists in Nandigram held a group of BJP leaders hostage for over an hour, thrashed a New York-based photographer and smashed his two cameras and lenses. <snip>

Freelance photographer Jay Mandal, who contributes to The Telegraph, was taking pictures of the motorcyclists flying Trinamul flags when attacked.

“Two youths walked towards the dais and jumped onto it. My flash gun alerted one of them. He came to me and gave me a big shove. I fell into a drain with my two cameras. Under the impact, one of them broke. The other was also badly damaged. I lost my glasses and without them, I am nearly blind,” said Mandal.

CONVENTIONS: AAPI's most honorable guests

I got a mass email today from Dino Teppara, the Director of Legislative Affairs for AAPI, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (our 2007 Q&A with Dino here). It spells out the agenda for the group's Legislative Day event in DC, tomorrow. And while I've always known that AAPI is an influential group, it's useful to see just who is speaking at the day-long event:

• Congressman John Fleming of Maryland
• Congressman Jim McDermott of Maryland
• Three members of the American Jewish Committee
• Nick Rathod, one of the more high-profile desis in the White House
• Congressman Bill Cassidy of Maryland
• Congressman Joe Crowley of New York
• Congressman Ed Royce of California
• Richard Boucher, Asst. Secretary of State

Here's the group's platform for the day, which can be read in full here:

• Increase the size of entering medical school classes & residency positions nationwide
• Protect the 20/220 Pathway and keep medical school affordable
• Supporting IMG visa waivers
• Protecting Medicare and Medicaid Physician Reimbursements
• Establishing meaningful liability reform nationwide

And this is the full day's agenda:

POLITICS: Shashi Tharoor on the campaign trail

Photographer Jay Mandal sent us these highly entertaining shots of the former New Yorker and UN under-secretary general Shashi Tharoor, who is quickly reinventing himself as an aspiring Congress politician in Kerala.

From Arun Ram in the Times of India:

At the core of his agenda is his own demystification — to break out of his high-profile image and present himself as a Keralite who can hold the common man’s hand and say, in Malayalam, that he is the best bet. He insists that you speak to him in Malayalam.

‘‘I’ve begun to forget my English,’’ he quips, as he enjoys a quick breakfast of appam and stew at his mother’s house. Beginning his day’s campaign from the Udiyannoor Devi temple at 8 am, Tharoor is the typical Malayalee, in white shirt and mundu, drinking holy water from the priest as if it is the elixir of his success. As he walks past, giggling women whisper about his handsome looks. Tharoor does charm.

And from IBN:

Both Tharoor and his constituency are new to each other and added to that is the language barrier.

His Malayalam is not very fluent, but he takes that more as a challenge than a handicap.

Tharooor assures rural voters that their voices would be heard in Delhi both in English and Hindi. He is also spending more time reaching out to them.

"Well I think you can see me talking to the common man. But in my case because my experience has been a bit different, people seem to think that I can thrive only in air conditioned offices. I want to prove them otherwise," says Tharoor.

A little controversy over the national anthem, from Outlook:

In his complaint, human rights activist Joy Kaitharath had alleged that on December 16 last, Tharoor had interrupted the national anthem after a public lecture at Kochi. He took a microphone from the table and directed the audience to stand the way people do in the US with their right palm placed on their chest instead of the attention posture followed by Indians so

Tharoor told reporters at the court premises that such an incident did not take place and the allegation was a lie.

Financial Express:

ETHNICITY: Texas legislator wants Asians to Americanize their names

When I was younger I thought it a bit unseemly for Indians to have Anglicized names like "Sam Patel" or "Ken Singh." Who's that guy trying to fool? It felt like a nomenclatural comb over.

In time, I got over it. The fact is, names like that aren't all that common in the desi community in the first place, and probably have/had their utility among certain segments, eg., business people making inroads in rural America and the like (and of course, politicians). It's not like Jewish America, where there are a whole lot of people whose Eastern European surnames were shortened back on Ellis Island.

Which is why the Betty Brown furor seems so anachronistic. Brown is a Republican member of the Texas state legislature, and during a legislative hearing on voter ID standards, she said a couple things that have gotten her in trouble. Scroll to 3:23 of this clip for the money quote.

She was addressing Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans. Ko's point, which he made repeatedly--and which I ask him about, lower down--was that many Asian American immigrants have problems in this country because they often have two sets of IDs: one that lists, say, their original, Chinese-sounding name (transliterated into English) and another that has an Anglicized name (like Ken). This causes problems when they go to vote.

But Brown wasn't really listening:

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

The issue was politicized before Brown even made her comments because Texas Republicans want to prevent voter fraud and Democrats say the actual occurrence of voter fraud is negligible, and that this is just a veiled attempt at suppressing votes from minorities, who tend to vote for Democrats.

But her remarks have taken the issue in a whole 'nother direction. She's received press in the San Francisco Chronicle, UPI, the UK's Telegraph. There's now a really fun "Betty Brown Name Generator"--I plugged in "Arun" and was told my new name is Roy "Chicken and Dumplings" Brown. If you try Shivashankara Venkataraghavan you get Billy-Ray "Golden Corral" Brown.

POLITICS: The Case of Varun Gandhi and the Fake Degrees

At just 29 years old, Varun Gandhi is widely regarded as a rising star in his political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP, which could sweep to power in India’s upcoming national elections when the results are announced on May 16th, is a Hindu nationalist party with a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Recently Gandhi caused uproar when he was caught on tape using such rhetoric. In the aftermath it was discovered that he had lied about academic credentials from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), both constituent colleges of the University of London.

The young Gandhi is an asset to the BJP because he is a high-level defector. His family is a political dynasty in the Congress Party, the secularist party currently holding on to power with a thin majority in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament). His aunt Sonia Gandhi is currently leader of the Congress. Additionally, his grandmother is the late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Congress) and his great grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first Prime Minister of India (Congress). After a family feud, Gandhi and his mother joined the BJP in 2004. (He explains his conversion to the BJP in a 2005 interview with the BBC.)

In contrast to his usually soft demeanor when speaking to the media in English, Gandhi recently made a series of fiery Hindi speeches in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, where he is the BJP’s candidate for the Lok Sabha. In them he threatens violence against Muslims, saying for example that after the election the “Lotus Hand” (the BJP’s emblem) would cut the throats of the “circumcised.”  That is of course a derogatory reference to Muslims that has more or less the same effect as the ‘N’-word in American politics. A video is available here from IBN, and it is not pretty to watch.

JOBS: APIAVote looking for new executive director

An important opportunity for those interested in U.S. politics.

The Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is pleased to announce the re-opening of its Executive Director search process.

 You may be familiar with our work and our partnerships with local and national AAPI community based organizations.  APIAVote is a progressive 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes civic participation of the Asian and Pacific Islander community.

The position of Executive Director requires strong field strategy and management experience.   APIAVote's primary goal is to build the field and organizational capacity of our local and national partner organizations, through coalition building and training.  Its program focus addresses voter registration, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) initiatives, media/communications strategy and voter file operations.

The Executive Director reports directly to the Board of Directors and oversees a small staff that does administrative, field, communications, and program management tasks. S/he is responsible for day-to-day operations including its effective staff administration, fundraising, communications, field organizing, training and partner relationships.

This is a wonderful organization that addresses a distinct community need.  It is also a great opportunity for a qualified and innovative candidate.  Please forward this to your networks, and any interested parties.  If you have any questions regarding APIAVote, please take a look at our website (www.apiavote.org/jobs), or contact the ED Search Committee at APIAVotejobs[at]gmail.com.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Jeanette Moy
Executive Director Search Committee
APIAVote Board of Directors

Vida Benavides
Interim Executive Director
APIAVote

SLUMDOG: India's Congress party buys rights to "Jai ho"

India's Congress party has paid $200,000 for the rights to "Jai Ho," according to the BBC. The song, by AR Rehman, received one of the eight Oscars that "Slumdog Millionaire" took home. Congress plans to use the song during general elections in April and May:

"The campaign is ready for launch. It has been sent to the party for approval. It should be out on television and radio in a few hours subject to its approval," Harindra Singh, vice-chairman and managing director of advertising firm Percept, told the BBC on Thursday.

Percept negotiated the song's rights with T-Series, which holds the song's copyright.

"The tune of the song and the Jai Ho phrase have been used in the campaign. The lyrics have been written by a combination of people, they will be projecting what the Congress wishes to communicate," Mr Singh said.