“The creation of a group designed to advise Gov. J.B. Pritzker on policy matters affecting the Indian community in Illinois shouldn’t be cause for concern.”
— Rummana Hussain
Indian American columnist Rummana Hussain in her column in the Chicago Sun-Times has taken exception to “exclusionary language” used in a legislation unanimously approved by Illinois General Assembly in setting up an Indian American Advisory Council.
“The creation of a group designed to advise Gov. J.B. Pritzker on policy matters affecting the Indian community in Illinois shouldn’t be cause for concern,” noted Rummana Hussain.
“But when the discombobulated text establishing such a council opens with discriminatory and false descriptors, the red flags should have been as conspicuous as a traditional Indian bride’s wedding lehenga,” writes Hussain, who is also a member of the Sun-Times Editorial Board.
“Indian” means a person descended from any of the countries of the subcontinent that are not primarily Muslim in character, including India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, reads the portion of the bill the Governor signed into law over the summer, she notes.
“There’s no ifs, ands or buts. This was a mistake. Period,” Villivalam was quoted as saying. He has since embarked on a mission to eliminate the discriminatory language in a follow-up “trailer” bill that would replace the council with a more encompassing South Asian American Advisory Council, reported A B Wire
“An Indian is a native or inhabitant of India or someone of Indian descent, irrespective of his or her religious background,” Hussain pointed out. “And Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are separate independent nations and their citizens don’t want to be wrongfully identified as Indians.”
“Conflating India with select parts of South Asia is misleading and offensive enough,” writes Hussain. “But then deliberately writing off the subcontinent’s countries that are “Muslim in character” — Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Maldives — evokes the bigoted tone of a relatively new citizenship law in India that excludes Muslim immigrants.”
“There appears to be intent to ‘construct a new social identity’ that could further marginalize Indian Muslims and leave them wondering if the council would be a safe space,” Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia, is cited as saying.
Mischaracterizing “who counts and doesn’t count” as an Indian also could have “downstream consequences” in shaping future policies, added Skinner-Dorkenoo, whose research focuses on how biases are established and reinforced through subtle messaging.
Indian American state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, “takes full responsibility for overlooking the offensive phrasing when he took sponsorship of the legislation in the Senate after it was drafted by the staff of state Rep. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett,” according to Hussain.
“There’s no ifs, ands or buts. This was a mistake. Period,” Villivalam was quoted as saying. He has since embarked on a mission to eliminate the discriminatory language in a follow-up “trailer” bill that would replace the council with a more encompassing South Asian American Advisory Council, reported A B Wire.
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