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Census spurs Indians to join NY poll fray

Aseem Chhabra

Buoyed by early reports from the 2000 Census data, five South Asian Americans are contesting for the New York City Council, which in its 150 years history has not elected an Asian American official.

Out of the five contestants, three -- Renu Lobo, Inderjit Singh and Jairam D Thakral -- are from India. The other two are Morshed Alam, who is from Bangladesh, and Trevor K Rupnarain, who was born in Guyana to parents of Indian descent. In addition, to the five South Asians, there are eight other Asian Americans in the various city council races, most of them representing the Flushing and Chinatown neighborhoods.

Although ethnic data collected by the Census is yet to be released, reports indicate that Asian Americans represent more than 10 per cent of the New York City population.

"Asian Indians are the fastest growing national minority in the United States and yet we don't have a voice," Lobo, a broadcast journalist and the only Republican in the group, said at a reception honoring the 13 candidates.

The reception was held on May 1 in downtown Manhattan's Tribeca area and was sponsored by the Asian American Federation of New York. The AAFNY is a non-profit umbrella organization that serves 36 of the city's Asian American social services and advocacy groups.

"There has been all kinds of representation in the City Council, but never any Asian representation and we are going to change this in 2001," Lobo added, sounding confident about her prospects in the race.

She is currently running unopposed from District 29 in the heavily Democratic Queens borough of New York City. Her district consists of Forest Hills, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Rego Park and parts of Richmond Hills.

Lobo said her decision to run for the City Council was spurred by the fact that of the Asian Americans residing in New York City, 25 per cent were Asian Indians. Approximately 60 per cent of the Asian Indians reside in Queens and a substantial number are US citizens, she added.

"The only problem is that we do not like to vote. We don't have a powerful voter block and we don't like to register. I think we have had enough of the lackadaisical attitude and of the photo opportunity sessions and giving money to politicians who do not give a damn for all of us."

Lobo added that the Asian Indian community has been has been very generous in its support, partly because of her name recognition as a broadcaster.

Inderjit Singh, a prominent Sikh face in New York's Democratic Party, who has held various positions in the city government and in the United Nations, also alluded to fact that wealthy Indians in the US continue to support presidential and senatorial candidates, instead of diverting funds to Asian Indians like himself.

"We are fortunate that our community has the education and resources and the money and we have been giving it to everybody else," Singh, who is contesting from District 28, covering most of Richmond area in Queens said. "I have had a very warm reception from our community, but this is eventually a money game."

For the past 10 years, Singh said the city government had ignored and neglected the Richmond Hill neighborhood. He compared the neighborhood to a third world country, because of what he referred to as the poor housing situation.

"We have a very large population of cab drivers and livery drivers in New York, almost 60 to 70 per cent are South Asians," Singh said. "It is amazing that there is not one person on the Taxi and Limousine Commission to represent their interest. Here is an example of what the powers that be have gotten away with."

Singh has seven other contestants -- all Democrats, opposing him. Trevor Rupnarain, the young Guyanese-Indian lawyer is also contesting from the same district. In addition, to a large Sikh population, District 28 of Richmond Hill area also has a strong presence of Guyanese-Indian immigrants.

Since there is no Republican opposition, this election, like many other New York City contests, will be decided at the time of the September primary.

"I am here to win the race," Singh said, sounding like the many politicians whose election campaigns he has worked on. "I have done my numbers and I have the resources."

Jairam Thakral is currently chief financial officer of the State University of New York's Stony Brook campus. A resident of Fresh Meadow, Queens, he hopes to represent District 23 (Floral Park area) in the New York City Council.

"I know the resources that are allocated by the city government do not come our way," Thakral said. "If you see the Census, the face of America, the face of New York and Queens is changing. We have to take part in the political process so that we can claim the share of resources that are available."

"We pay taxes like anybody else. We have a lot of family values. I would like to change the face of the City Council to reflect and represent the diversity of the city."

Thakral said District 23 had a population of 144,000 people and according to his estimate, 20 per cent of that group consists of South Asians. Another statistic -- 85 per cent of the South Asians in the district were US citizens.

"But they are not enrolled to vote, especially in the primary," he said. "If I can increase the South Asian voter registration and get some affiliation with Spanish and Korean people, this election is winnable."

Currently, Thakral has two other opponents, both of whom are Jewish.

"I have a very good chance of winning this election," he said confidently.

Winning elections is something that Morshed Alam knows quite well.

A trade unionist, he has been elected two times to the New York State School Board. In the first election he defeated 18 other candidates. And in 1998 he was the Democratic candidate for the New York State Senate. He lost the election, but managed to receive approximately 42 per cent of the vote.

A prominent activist in the city's Democratic Party machinery, his campaign pamphlet includes the vital group photographs with the current ions of the organization -- former president Bill Clinton and the two senators from the state, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.

Alam is contesting from District 24, which includes Flushing-South and the Hillcrest parts of Queens. He has four other opponents -- all white Caucasians.

"Two per cent of the district is South Asian and Bangladeshis will be about 0.5 per cent," he said, adding that like in his school board campaigns he is trying to build a coalition with other minority groups.

Representatives of the AAFNY group emphasized that by inviting the candidates to the reception, the organization was not endorsing them. Instead, it was a marking a historical moment.

Paul Huang, chairperson of the group's board of directors, said the Asian American community faces many barriers and prejudices. He pointed out to a recent study conducted by the Jewish Anti Defamation League the results of which show that 25 per cent of Americans had a very negative attitude towards Asian Americans. One third of those polled thought that Asian Americans would not be loyal to the US in the event of a conflict with their home country.

"These 13 Asian Americans running for the City Council reflects our community's determination to be seen, heard and to have a say in what was goes on in our city government," Huang said. "It is important for us to recognize and salute these Asian-American candidates for their commitment to the democratic process."

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