DAILY ROUNDUP
American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Despite pressure from the Indian Embassy and several Indian American organizations to desist from joining the newly formed Sikh Congressional Caucus on Capitol Hill, California Democrat Congressman Ami Bera has now officially joined the Caucus to support civil rights issues of the Sikh community, who have faced tremendous racial discrimination and violence in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Sikh Congressional Caucus has garnered support of more than 30 members of the House of Representatives, and is headed by Congresswoman Judy Chu, along with Congressman David Valadao, as was reported earlier by the Bazaar. However, controversy erupted after it came to light that the Caucus is backed by some pro-Khalistan separatist movement groups.
The Indian Embassy has been doing behind the scenes lobbying to dissuade House of Representative members from joining the Caucus as well as informing the members who have joined the Caucus about the terrorist links of the failed Khalistan movement.
But Bera, the only Indian American in the US House of Representatives, said he decided to go ahead and join the Caucus because of the violence against Sikhs which has hit hard in his district too.
“The memory of the tragedy at Oak Creek is still fresh, and in my own community of Elk Grove, two Sikh men were murdered in 2011 in a probable hate crime. Violence and discrimination against the Sikh American community is a real and important civil rights issue in the US,” Bera said, according to reports. “That’s why I co-sponsored strong anti-hate crimes legislation earlier this year, and that’s why I joined the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, to work on civil rights issues here in America.”
There is no doubt that there is urgent need to start a campaign to make people aware of the identity of the Sikh community, and how they are not related to the Taliban, something which has been done in small measure since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but violence has continued unabated against the Community the last 11 years.
However, Bera should be warned that when there is intense lobbying to bring up some issues related to the Khalistan movement and if at all a bill is thrust in the US House of Representatives, he may not vote for it, but he would still be branded as a member of the Caucus which introduced it.
USIBC TO PROTEST IMMIGRATION BILL: Throwing their hat into the ring of the quagmire called the immigration reforms bill introduced by the Gang of Eight Senators, which is facing an uphill battle for it to be turned into law, the US India Business Council (USIBC) has decided to launch a protest against certain provisions of the bill that they feel is likely to restrict the movement of technology professionals and hurt the US-India Knowledge economy.
According to the USIBC, certain provisions of the bill will deter skilled professionals to emigrate and work in the US, and would instead have them scout work opportunities in other countries like Canada which have more liberal immigration policies.
USIBC had last lobbied hard on behalf of India-related concerns in 2006, when they had hired the professional lobbying company Patton Boggs to campaign for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
The President of USIBC, Ron Somers, in a letter to the Gang of Eight Senators, said: “We are deeply concerned about aspects of the negotiations that have been reported in the press that could actually hinder US innovation, growth and competitiveness, as well as do serious harm to US-India relations…particularly targeted by the proposed restrictions would be global IT services companies headquartered in India, which are in fact enabling American companies to remain globally competitive.”
BIDEN KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Vice President Joe Biden was the keynote speaker at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) 19th Annual Gala Awards Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, yesterday.
The celebrations honored several Asian American and Pacific Islander pioneers who have inspired a growing new generation of leaders to get more involved in the political process.
Also present at the gala, were some survivors of last year’s Oak Creek, Wis. Shooting, as well as a diverse new generation of women leaders from the community who were elected in the last elections.
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1 Comment
Before joining such Caucus every American leader should make it clear that while the respect the rights of Sikhs,they do not endorse the Khalistani leaders vision of a seperate state.Majority of the Sikhs in India live out of Panjab and are quite prosperous,confident,and not dependent on any government aid.American leaders should be careful not to endorse leaders complicating things for Sikhs in India,while sitting in the luxury of USA.