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Here is Sonal Shah's statement with regard to the rumors and smears propagated against her: "As an Indian-American who has lived in this country since the age of four, serving on the Obama-Biden transition team is a unique privilege for me. A presidential transition is always a time of excitement and, in some cases, of rumors and unfounded gossip. I'd like to set to rest a few baseless and silly reports that have been circulating on the Internet. First, 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. I've never been involved in Indian politics, and never intend to do so. Second, I've always condemned any politics of division, of ethnic or religious hatred, of violence and intimidation as a political tool. Some factually inaccurate internet rumors have attempted to link me to Hindu Nationalist groups through a variety of tenuous connections: Relief work I'm proud to have helped coordinate following the Gujarati earthquake of 2001, or cultural and religious affiliations of some of my family members, or apolitical humanitarian work I've been privileged to do as a founder of the NGO Indicorps and as the Director of Global Development for Google.org. Finally, I do not subscribe to the views of such Hindu nationalist groups, and never have. Ridiculous tactics of guilt by association have been decisively repudiated by the American people. I am delighted with what the victory on November 4 says about my country, and about our place in the world. I look forward to serving our President-elect in this time of transition." ...Sonal Shah I hope people do not now accuse her of dishonesty without first-hand evidence. Cheers, Santosh --- On Sun, 11/9/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > An interesting fallout of Barack Obama's election as > President is the naming of Sonal Shah an Indo-American in > his council of advisors. It just happens that Sonal Shah and > her family are staunch RSS/ VHP members. They have been > actively collecting funds for the VHP which has been > formenting trouble in various parts of the country. The VHP > / BD narrowly escaped being banned as a terrorist > organisation due to the lack of spine displayed by the > Congress. However, it will be interesting how Obama who > stands for human rights reconciles having a person with > fundamentalist leanings on his staff. >