http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Dichotomy-towards-diaspora-politicians/articleshow/48020928.cms
Front-page news across Indian media recently, when Bobby Jindal became the first person of South Asian descent to run for US president. The governor of Louisiana is just 44, yet has been a rising star of the Republican Party since turning around the fortunes of his state's department of health when still in his early 20s. In 2006 he became the second Indian-American in the US Congress (the first, Dalip Singh Saund of California retired some 50 years earlier). In 2007, he became only the second non-white governor of a southern state in US history. Indian media's reaction to Jindal's announcement was uncritical. But the response from other Indian Americans was mostly hostile. This is because the candidate represents an extremist fringe in US politics. After converting to Catholicism while attending Brown University, Jindal has strictly aligned with the religious right-wing of the USA, even insisting that creationism (aka 'intelligent design') be taught in school biology curricula. Many potential supporters are also uncomfortable with Jindal's ostentatious distancing of his public identity from his Punjabi Indian roots. A slightly more moderate political strategy is pursued by Nikki Haley, another Indian-American who became the third non-white governor of a southern state, South Carolina, in 2010. Like Jindal (who changed his name from Piyush), Haley attempts to efface Punjabi Indian origins. Born Nimrata Randhawa into a Sikh family, she now identifies as Christian, and supports a doctrinaire conservative political agenda, including a hard line on immigration. Haley and Jindal are no more Indian than Barack Obama is Kenyan. Neither show interest in connecting with their ancestral culture. But India still displays an embarrassingly misplaced obsession with them. Both were elaborately feted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his 2014 Madison Square Garden-extravaganza in New York. Haley even came onstage to share the PM's spotlight (Jindal did not attend, but sent a message). That jamboree—played endlessly on every television channel in India—encapsulates the bizarre national prejudice that rushes to selectively lionize a few diaspora migrants in the USA, while a slew of dynamic leaders of Goan descent in Portugal and the UK (and beyond) are rudely ignored, even when they seek to connect and contribute. The bias against diaspora Goans is petty and ridiculous, and perpetuates an ongoing tragedy where some of the most talented and successful diaspora Indians are forcibly excluded, instead of enlisted for their expertise and support. Perhaps first among the overlooked is Antonio Costa, charismatic mayor of Lisbon who is also the leader of Portugal's Socialist Party. Even while Indian media gushes over Jindal, who has zero chance of leading the USA, Costa is now the overwhelming favourite to become prime minister of Portugal after elections in September. The son of ferociously anti-colonial Goan writer Orlando Costa is a political star, who engineered an extraordinary makeover for Lisbon. Despite extreme economic crisis, it has been transformed into the safest, greenest, and most livable big city in Europe. In the rival Social Democratic Party camp is Jorge Barretto Xavier, Portugal's secretary of state (effectively minister) for culture. The Margao-born dynamo is an expert on arts and culture management. Both Costa and Barretto Xavier have repeatedly expressed their desire (including to this writer) to foster closer ties between Europe and India, with Goa and Portugal as an essential conduit. It is an offer that would be criminal to neglect. More significant diaspora assets sit in the new UK parliament, where three MPs proudly trace their roots to Goa. Suella Fernandes is just 35, and a rising favourite in the ruling Conservative Party. Valerie and Keith Vaz remain the first brother-sister duo in parliament since ex-PM David Lloyd-George's children 60 years ago. Keith Vaz, who retained his seat by a record margin, and is now an elder statesman and kingmaker of his Labour Party, is also a proven friend of Goa who returns to visit every year. He could be an outstanding adviser to the state government or any civil institution (Goa University?) visionary enough to reach out and ask. Besides these heavyweights, another diaspora politician whose expertise could immediately benefit Goa is 57-year-old Jose Pereira Coutinho, who heads the New Hope Party in Macau. Since first elected 10 years ago (an astonishing feat considering 95% of voters are Chinese) the veteran lawyer and labour leader has quickly emerged as one of the sanest and most fearless political voices in the "one country, two systems" apparatus that oversees Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China. Pereira Coutinho is perforce an expert on legalized gambling, its potential and impact on society and culture. Since childhood he has watched the gaming industry steadily take over Macau's economy to the point where 70% of state taxes now come from casinos. There is no better, wiser and more pragmatic counsel anywhere in the world when it comes to gambling. It is highly ironic that his ancestral homeland (Pereira Coutinho's roots are in Majorda) unleashed, and now panders full-scale to unregulated casinos, and he has never been consulted. Just another superb Goan diaspora skill-set that is purposefully ignored by state and country.