By DERON LEE
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican, has joined a diverse chorus of voices protesting Barack Obama's selection last month of Indian-American economist Sonal Shah, a Google executive, to his transition team.
Santorum's Thursday op-ed piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer repeated the charge made by several others: that Shah's past charitable work with the American wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- an Indian organization that has been accused of fomenting violence against Christians and Muslims -- sends a discomfiting message to the world about the new administration's attitude toward the region.
"Shah should condemn the VHP and its actions soon," Santorum wrote. "If she doesn't, keeping her on -- or, more ominously, giving her a post in the new administration -- would send the message that the president-elect does not think the VHP is a radical organization."
Trinity College (Conn.) professor Vijay Prashad -- no ideological ally of Santorum's -- has written a set of articles critical of Shah in the liberal newsletter Counterpunch. A coalition of Indian-American groups has demanded that Shah repudiate the VHP and its sister organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. And the media in both India and Pakistan have covered the controversy closely.
"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," Shah said in a Nov. 11 statement. "I've never been involved in Indian politics, and never intend to do so."
It is highly doubtful that South Asian politics factored into the Obama camp's consideration of Shah, who was chosen to serve on the transition team's "Technology, Innovation & Government Reform" working group. Before joining Google, she was a vice president at Goldman Sachs and served for several years in the Treasury department during the Clinton administration. But the controversy could put to rest any speculation that Shah might be shortlisted for a top Cabinet job.
And at a time when India's complex and volatile politics -- little-understood in this country -- have come to the fore, it seems clear that every move made by the president-elect having any relevance, however obscure, to India and Pakistan, is likely to generate major ripples worldwide.
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Responded on December 16, 2008 6:46 PM
Balu
The voices protesting the choice of Sonal Shah do not represent the voice of the majority of the Indians in the world. Sonal Shah has done great service by starting Indicorps which has inspired many youth to donate a year of service for charity projects in India. She is a great example for myself and other second generation Indian Americans to give back to society and not just make money and live selfishly. What is the big deal if she was part of VHP-A to help fundraise for Gujarat earthquakes? Sonal has spent her own money nurturing Indicorps. Is that not a great example for someone to tell their kids? I think it's admirable that she has explored a variety of organizations and finally settled on Indicorps. That experience of caring for others is naturally a great quality apart from her technical expertise for which she was hired by the Obama team. Good for her!! The McCarthyism tactics used by Rick Santorum, Vijay Prashad, etc. against Sonal are indeed dispecable. Vijay Prashad and Rick Santorum are examples of how bankrupt many liberals and conservatives are. I&nbs...
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The voices protesting the choice of Sonal Shah do not represent the voice of the majority of the Indians in the world. Sonal Shah has done great service by starting Indicorps which has inspired many youth to donate a year of service for charity projects in India. She is a great example for myself and other second generation Indian Americans to give back to society and not just make money and live selfishly.
What is the big deal if she was part of VHP-A to help fundraise for Gujarat earthquakes? Sonal has spent her own money nurturing Indicorps. Is that not a great example for someone to tell their kids? I think it's admirable that she has explored a variety of organizations and finally settled on Indicorps. That experience of caring for others is naturally a great quality apart from her technical expertise for which she was hired by the Obama team. Good for her!!
The McCarthyism tactics used by Rick Santorum, Vijay Prashad, etc. against Sonal are indeed dispecable. Vijay Prashad and Rick Santorum are examples of how bankrupt many liberals and conservatives are.
I urge people to see the ground reality for themselves and not rely on a heavily biased media. Saying that RSS and VHP sponsor riots against Muslims is no different than saying Saddam Hussein had WMD's. It's like saying the mafia never existed (and the US govt did indeed deny the mafia's existence for years).Check out this video and see the truth about RSS.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=rss+sew&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=rss%20sewa&hl=en&emb=0
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Responded on December 11, 2008 10:13 AM
Augustine E. Souza
It is a relief to note that the persecution of minorities world-wide and in India remains important to Americans despite the various economic crises sweeping America and the world.
The US government should exercise utmost caution in employing those affiliated with fundamentalist organizations in India and treat with scepticism delayed protestations of innocence.