I found this article on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ACLU lawyer daughter, Amrit Singh (who co-authored this recent report Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond ) to be an interesting take on South Asians who end up living in America (or the West in general) -- especially with Benazir Bhutto’s son so prominently in the news.
The article points to a Western education as key for “inculcating liberal values,” more than “the borrowed doctrinaire rubbish that Indian communists have gassed about for decades.”
Writer Swaraj Chauhan says:
Studying, working or living in the West does not mean condoning western excesses -- or selling out India’s interests, as our Founding Fathers showed. The anti-American pathology that is starting to infect India’s political discourse -- in the context of the nuclear deal -- is unnecessary given the level of engagement between the two societies. Amrit Singh and millions of globally engaged Indians both within and outside India are testimony to a confident new people and country that is not afraid of taking on the West on their territory. So different from the neurotic, ideologically-driven, inward-looking comrades who are fearful of the future and whose young leaders sound so old and tired.
This article makes me think of the divisions between Asian Americans and Asian immigrants. Does Amrit Singh consider herself South Asian American, I wonder -- or does she see herself as an Indian immigrant to America?
Otherwise, the article lists an Indian American woman named Sarita Kedia as the main counsel for the mobster John A Gotti -- now that’s some good Asian American trivia.
Posted by neela at January 17, 2008 2:00 AM
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You never say who the author is or where you read the article...
Oops, thanks Julian -- my tags were messed up. Good looking out. Fixed.