The impact of rechristening Aligarh and other towns and districts on their local communities, especially those belonging to the Muslim faith, is likely to have disastrous consequences. The Aligarh district panchayat recently passed a resolution asking the Government of Uttar Pradesh to change the name of the district and its eponymous city to “Harigarh.” This proposed renaming is not an isolated event. Cities and district renamed in the UP since the last election in … [Read more...]
Indian American Rashad Hussain’s nomination is Biden’s way of sending powerful message to the world
On July 30, US President Joe Biden named Indian American Rashad Hussain as the country’s new Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. If confirmed by the US Senate, Hussain will become the sixth person to serve in that position. As ambassador-at-large, the 41-year-old attorney will also head the Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom and serve as a non-voting member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom … [Read more...]
Covid-19 Vaccination in India: Lessons It Can Draw from the US Experience
Though the United States narrowly missed President Joe Biden’s July 4 goal of vaccinating 70 percent of US adults with at least one dose and fully vaccinating 160 million Americans, reasonable normalcy has returned to the country. All across America, people have begun going back to restaurants and malls, theaters are screening movies once again, and fans are back in arenas watching their favorite teams. The most obvious example of the return of normalcy was a White House … [Read more...]
India should enlist services of Indian American physicians in its fight against COVID-19
Since early April, when a second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic began in India, the country’s healthcare system has been buckling under its pressure, with hospitals and doctors unable to keep up with the pace of patients showing up. As India wages this grave war against the coronavirus infection, there is one group of veteran warriors who could play a crucial role in taming the virus. They are Indian American physicians. Now, in the apparent later stages of the second wave … [Read more...]
Many wishes for India: May it continue to celebrate the richness of religious diversity
As we enter the holiday season and approach the new year, I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt best wishes to and for India and Indians. Because of COVID-19, 2020 has been an extremely trying year. We have all had to try harder. We have done so across the board and it is starting to pay off. Vaccines are now being distributed in the UK, the US, in other countries and will soon be distributed across India. That is a reason for hope and to be of good … [Read more...]
Biden victory: Plenty of positives for India, Indian Americans
Former Vice President Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump in a tightly contested American election held in the backdrop of the biggest health crisis in more than one hundred years. The election was followed closely in India for three reasons: the presence of a candidate of Indian origin on the Democratic ticket; the rising prominence of the Indian American community in US politics; and the foreign policy implications that every new administration presents. Let me address … [Read more...]
A record number of Indian Americans look to expand influence in US administration
Much of the focus of the US election coverage in the Indian and Indian American media has been about how both presidential nominees, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, have been courting Indian American voters. A less written about the fact is there are dozens of Indian American candidates in this election cycle running for federal, state, and local offices. If Joe Biden defeats President Trump in November, Senator Kamala Harris will be leaving the Senate to … [Read more...]
Addressing Muslim developmental needs in India is a hand-up, not a hand-out.
Although madrasas educate only between 2-4% of Muslim children and youth, they need to modernize their curriculum and move away from Islamic centric or Islamic-only education to a holistic approach that enables these students to integrate fully into Indian society, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor. Eminent columnist Swaminathan A Aiyar called upon Wakf boards and wealthy Muslims to finance the development of “a string of world-class education institutions” that would … [Read more...]
India should resist aligning with the US on China
Even though New Delhi and Washington have become closer strategic partners, especially in the past two decades, India has never openly aligned with the United States on China, despite US pressure to do so, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor US President Donald Trump has issued two executive orders restricting Chinese social media networks TikTok and WeChat, on the grounds that they pose significant national security threats to the United States. These executive actions set a 45-day … [Read more...]
Sixty years hence: Are India and US set for a ‘defining partnership’?
This past December, the United States and India celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first visit of a US President to India. That President was Dwight Eisenhower (Ike). Since then five other Presidents have come to India. Their visits and they have all had an impact on the manner in which US-India relations have evolved. In my opinion, there have been three stages for the US- India relations to date: * 1947 – 1990: Fledgling Relationship * 1991 – 2016: … [Read more...]