Bobby Jindal impact on South Asian Americans.

[Verily]

One important point is that Jindal is Christian (Catholic IIRC). A lot of South Asians view that kind of conversion as a betrayal, whether of Hinduism, Islam or Sikhism (or Buddhism from Sri Lanka) and wouldn't even think of Jindal as South Asian but part of "the colonizers".

This isn't true of all, of course. Many, especially Hindu Indians, are very wealthy and tend to be doctors or lawyers and have considerably less colonial antipathy. But they still are unlikely to see the parallel between a Christian Indian and a Hindu Indian as something they should be voting on.

It also matters where in India Jindal's family is from. If his family was Tamil, for example, Gujaratis or Bengalis are not going to understand the appeal.

Disclaimer: This is all my experience of the New York City area South Asian community. The Californian community is probably larger and possibly very different.

[Torie]

Well, this is what I have come up with so far, a poll conducted in September, 2004, and based on a small sample, the result is that Asian Indians split 53% Kerry, 14% Bush, and 30% undecided. So, it looks like I might have been in error in my assumptions.  I hate when that happens!

[Stranger in a strange land]

I know it was a bit baffling at first considering the amount of prominent Indian Republicans. Bobby Jindal, Ramesh Ponnuru, Dinesh D'Souza.

Interesting that all three of them are Christians, which makes them unrepresentative of the South Asian community in the U.S.

yes, I'd think Muslim and Hindu South Asians would be put off by that.

Also, from my experience and anecdotal observations, the South Asian community tends to be concentrated heavily in a few states: New York, New Jersey, California, and to a lesser extent Washington and Texas. None of these are really swing states in an Obama vs McCain election.

[Sbane]

Well, this is what I have come up with so far, a poll conducted in September, 2004, and based on a small sample, the result is that Asian Indians split 53% Kerry, 14% Bush, and 30% undecided. So, it looks like I might have been in error in my assumptions.  I hate when that happens!

Interesting poll. The Vietnamese vote was a bit of a surprise. I did not expect that 60 point margin. The Indian vote in 2004 should not be surprising as it was during the war in Iraq. A lot of things were going wrong by then but was not being broadcast by faux news and its imitators. I think Indians read and watch too much international news to get swept up in the jingoism. The only community that might get caught up in it is the punjabi community. They are a very patriotic people with a strong tradition of military action. I know many signed up for the US army after 9/11.

[phk]

BTW, Jindal's politically fortuitous conversion would hurt him among Hindus and Muslims alike.

You sure about that?

I haven't seen any Indians voice complaints about Sonia Gandhi's Roman Catholicism.

It seems like a sort of neutral religion. A Muslim would probably lose Hindu votes and vice-versa, but a Christian can transcend the conflict more easily.

[Sbane]

BTW, Jindal's politically fortuitous conversion would hurt him among Hindus and Muslims alike.

You sure about that?

I haven't seen any Indians voice complaints about Sonia Gandhi's Roman Catholicism.

Are you serious? Have you noticed how she is not the PM.

[phk]

BTW, Jindal's politically fortuitous conversion would hurt him among Hindus and Muslims alike.

You sure about that?

I haven't seen any Indians voice complaints about Sonia Gandhi's Roman Catholicism.

Are you serious? Have you noticed how she is not the PM.

Indian-Americans that is.

Do you have to be born in India to be PM? She could still be an Italian citizen.

I figure a Muslim would be more objectionable than a Christian and they've had 3 Muslim Presidents.

[Sbane]

BTW, Jindal's politically fortuitous conversion would hurt him among Hindus and Muslims alike.

You sure about that?

I haven't seen any Indians voice complaints about Sonia Gandhi's Roman Catholicism.

Are you serious? Have you noticed how she is not the PM.

Indian-Americans that is.

Do you have to be born in India to be PM?

I figure a Muslim would be more objectionable than a Christian and they've had 3 Muslim Presidents.

Yeah I guess Indian americans would not care too much about a catholic. The real problem has to do with her Italian ancestry. Nobody overtly brings up religion in India. It is not PC... even though all voting is done on religious grounds. Anyways sonia was going to become PM but people were threatening hunger strikes and other measures, so she gave up power to Manmohan singh. But she is still in effect the leader of the congress party.

[Brittain33]

It seems like a sort of neutral religion. A Muslim would probably lose Hindu votes and vice-versa, but a Christian can transcend the conflict more easily.

Christian proselytizing in India is very controversial, in particular because they target the dalits and scheduled castes who have an unfavorable position in Hindu society. Some states have banned or persecuted Christian missionaries and churches have been burned.

I do not know how this issue plays among Indian-Americans, but at least in India Hindus have created a strong religious identity and act in its defense as much as people of other faiths do. There's a dynamic among immigrant communities of certain people "selling out," in the Jewish community it was people anglicizing their names and putting up Christmas trees and Christmas lights*, and it causes a lot of tension.

This is a long way of saying that I think converting to Christianity AND changing your name from Piyush to Bobby is not going to play well among Indian-Americans.

*I recognize that Christmas is not an exclusively Christian holiday and many non-Christians celebrate it, however, to many Jews it is a sensitive issue when other Jews do it. This is not the place for that debate.

[AltWorlder]

There are actually more Christians in India than there are Sikhs.

[Sbane]

It seems like a sort of neutral religion. A Muslim would probably lose Hindu votes and vice-versa, but a Christian can transcend the conflict more easily.

Christian proselytizing in India is very controversial, in particular because they target the dalits and scheduled castes who have an unfavorable position in Hindu society. Some states have banned or persecuted Christian missionaries and churches have been burned.

I do not know how this issue plays among Indian-Americans, but at least in India Hindus have created a strong religious identity and act in its defense as much as people of other faiths do. There's a dynamic among immigrant communities of certain people "selling out," in the Jewish community it was people anglicizing their names and putting up Christmas trees and Christmas lights*, and it causes a lot of tension.

This is a long way of saying that I think converting to Christianity AND changing your name from Piyush to Bobby is not going to play well among Indian-Americans.

*I recognize that Christmas is not an exclusively Christian holiday and many non-Christians celebrate it, however, to many Jews it is a sensitive issue when other Jews do it. This is not the place for that debate.

You hit the nail right on the head when you describe Hindu India's number one problem with Christians. I think in America, Indian's are much more concerned about preserving culture and making their kids follow certain mores. So even though Indians may have a problem with "americanization"( i.e. alcohol and drug use, girlfriends/boyfriends in HS), they will not have a huge problem with an Indian who converted to catholicism but keeps acting "traditionally". I am very sure Bobby stands up to that standard. But if he got a divorce or something like that all bets are off.

[Sbane]

There are actually more Christians in India than there are Sikhs.

Not surprising, but the problem is with western missionaries that convert dalits and OBC. Hindu's feel that Christians are exploiting hinduism's past mistakes and the real fear is that by converting  these people they will somehow change the hindu culture of India. Very similar to those who bitch about multiculturalism here. Opposition to this and muslims in general has led to the development of this xenophobic ideology called hindutva. It says that all muslims, christians and jews should promptly leave India or basically accept "Indian" culture. Interestingly Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are not affected at all, rather they are encouraged as some of the original religions of India. The BJP is the main proponent of this philosophy, and even though they will downplay it in polite compnay, this is how they rile up their base.

[AltWorlder]

Well, Sikhism, from what I understand, is a religion that's pretty much tied with the Punjabi ethnicity, whereas Christianity in India has a long history stretching from the St. Thomas/Syriac Christians, to those in Kerala or Goa who were converted by the Portuguese, to modern day evangelicals.  So naturally there'd be more Christians.  However, I've also read on BBC that not only Dalits turning to Christianity, but also Buddhism and possibly Islam(?), as they are religions that are more egalitarian in that they don't have caste systems.

[Sbane]

Well, Sikhism, from what I understand, is a religion that's pretty much tied with the Punjabi ethnicity, whereas Christianity in India has a long history stretching from the St. Thomas/Syriac Christians, to those in Kerala or Goa who were converted by the Portuguese, to modern day evangelicals.  So naturally there'd be more Christians.  However, I've also read on BBC that not only Dalits turning to Christianity, but also Buddhism and possibly Islam(?), as they are religions that are more egalitarian in that they don't have caste systems.

Yes you are right that Sikhs come only from the state of Punjab. They are now spread all over India and all over the world, but all of their homelands is Punjab. Interestingly though, there are more hindus than sikhs there. Of course the hindu and sikh community are very connected in Punjab. Christianity has a long history in India and their concentrations are higher along the west coast where the trade of India was conducted. The problem is really with the evangelicals who convert these tribals and dalits to christianity. One thing you have to realize is that tribals and dalits are not hindu in the traditional sense. My version of hinduism and theirs is worlds apart. Thus I really do not think these people should remain "hindu" but I really do not want them to be islamic, as that is just asking for trouble. Buddhism is the best way in my opinion and many do get converted to it. But the thing is that the evangelicals are just so in your face that it is easy for these villagers to convert to christianity. The hindus that have a problem with that should hire some buddhists to go to these places and start converting promptly. But christianizing these villagers does not lead at all to a delition of their "indianness" so I really do not have a problem with the missionaries.

[Хahar 🤔]

Well, this is what I have come up with so far, a poll conducted in September, 2004, and based on a small sample, the result is that Asian Indians split 53% Kerry, 14% Bush, and 30% undecided. So, it looks like I might have been in error in my assumptions.  I hate when that happens!

Interesting poll. The Vietnamese vote was a bit of a surprise. I did not expect that 60 point margin. The Indian vote in 2004 should not be surprising as it was during the war in Iraq. A lot of things were going wrong by then but was not being broadcast by faux news and its imitators. I think Indians read and watch too much international news to get swept up in the jingoism. The only community that might get caught up in it is the punjabi community. They are a very patriotic people with a strong tradition of military action. I know many signed up for the US army after 9/11.

Yep, one of the old "martial races". That broguht up a whole slew of problems in Pakistan that wouldn't be solved until 1971.