Wed 16 Aug 2006
Organisations in the US representing Indians have criticised a Republican Senator from Virginia for his offensive comments against a young political activist belonging to the community even as the Indian American Republican Council defended the law maker.
At a campaign rally in southwest Virginia on Friday, George Allen pointed to 20-year-old student S R Sidarth working for his Democrat rival and repeatedly referred to him as “macaca,” also used for a monkey.
The Indian American Leadership Initiative slammed his “demeaning” comments against the student. “It is unacceptable that Senator Allen used a racial slur to refer to a twenty-year old native Virginian of Indian descent. Senator Allen needs to explain himself, and he owes the Indian American community an apology,” President Jay Chaudhuri said in a statement.
August 16th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Also some reporting in the Washington Post of how this is playing out in the local Indian American political community:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/15/AR2006081501210_pf.html
“Sanjay Puri, the leader of the nation’s largest Indian political action committee and a longtime Allen supporter, said he will lead a delegation of Indian business executives and community leaders to meet with Allen on Wednesday to express dismay.
“The comments are very insensitive. That’s what we want to find out: How can we continue working with him?” Puri said. “The senator has had a very good relationship with our community. I was pretty surprised — you can say shocked.”