Last week, I was at Washington DC to participate in an Immigration rally organized by Immigration Voice (IV) . Apart from the rally, IV Core team also requested few volunteers to do active lobbying to create awareness of legal immigration issues to our state congressmen staffers. I will outline few things that can be kept on public domain (as you must be aware many strategic issues cannot be disclosed as anti-immigration lobbyy is very aggressive and may hamper our efforts).
These are my key observations -
1) Legal immigration is a non-issue Surprising it may be but nobody thinks about 1 million legal immigrants living in the probationary limbo for more than 4 years. They care more about undocumented workers. By the magnitude of the issue, church involvement, family separation issues etc, I felt for sometime that undocumented worker is better positioned in the DC politics.
2) Legal Immigrants are unorganized There is no single organization (till IV came into existence) that represented legal immigrant community. Policies are made in USA with lobbying by special interest groups, representative organizations and USD($). Without these, nothing can be done. Being non-citizens, legal immigrants cannot directly fund any political organization either for campaign funding or other soft funding. Indian-Americans, Chinese-Americans etc so far did not get involve at all. They have more power than IV to influence Congress.
3) Legal Immigrants are non-political When there is such a fundamental issue being fought for, I expected that at least 20,000 will turn out to the rally. But there are just 3000 participants in the rally. DC metro area and tri-state are has a large immigrant community. It doesnt take much effort to take off from work for few hours and walk 2 miles. But it seems that there are less than 100 participants from that area. How many would be hording outside the theatres if Shivaji movie is released?
Almost everyone has an opinion of how to improve the process. But they do not show up when we need to show the strength. Just skewed priorities and political inactivism is clouding many Indian legal immigrants from standing up.
4) People think that we are all same People who do not violate speeding and simple road laws are being kept on par with undocumented workers. While undocumented aliens(God I hate that word Alien!!!), have their own plight, there is no excuse for violating law unless US Congress decides to give amnesty. Somehow it doesnt seem to be right on anybody's part to equate both.
5) USA will face Skilled HR crunch soon Legal immigrants that too in the highly skilled category are in high demand from many growing economies of Europe and of course, India and China. US is able to attract the talent but if very ineffective in retaining talent. US experience is of very high demand in many sectors. Unless US Congress decides to repair it's broken immigration laws, reverse-brain drain will happen in much faster rate. (it is already happening). USA is simply not the sole destination for a global high tech worker. Unfortunately US Congress kept both legal immigrants and undocumented workers in the same quadrant and is trying to bring a Comprehensive Immigration Reform. This is a no-mover. In my life time, I do not expect all parties to come to a consensus on this. Legal skilled immigrants are expecting Congress to separate them out and bring appropriate provisions that will immediately get effective.
6) H1B is not liked by many Even though H1B increase is expected by many foriegn based companies to effectively run their businesses, somehow the perception on the hill looks like this program is abused by many companies. I will not be surprised if the number is capped even down. And there is a high chance that L1 visa will also be capped. No cap is basically prone to abuse. I think all companies must make serious effort to recruit US citizens before bringing foriegn workers. I am sure already it is being done, but these efforts to recruit US Citizens is somehow not highly publicized. Indian IT companies (whom I wish every success), must act on this advice immediately.
Over all, the trip was very useful for me personally. Only 1 in 15 US citizens meet their congressmen in their lives, (as quoted by someone at DC.) I am fortunate enough to meet seven house members and two senators in one day.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Ramar Setu - Myth or History
My uncle Dr.Mitra kindly allowed me to publish some of his articles on my blog. Many thanks to him. Please read on.
The current hot debate and the political tug of war going on about Ramar Sethu issue, is being mishandled without clarity and direction. It is a total lack of understanding on the part of the UPA govt. and sheer opportunism on the part of the Hindutva brigade and DMK.
Let us break it up into its constituent issues, First is the debate about Rama and the second is the economic need for dredging a channel.
Addressing the first issue - Any mythology has its roots in historic events. Events that happened a long time ago before image capture technologies, print and communications came into existence. The knowledge and comprehension of the small, primitive, illiterate populations that existed several millennia ago, was limited. Events that happened in their lifetime, that made a profound impact on their lives, were remembered and passed down generations as stories, fables and legends. This was mostly as word of mouth. To keep them interesting and keep the legend alive, larger than life metaphors and interesting figures of speech were added. This is what is done even to day in marketing and media to make a story captivating. In their long journey through time, these narrations passed down several generations, metamorphosed to acquired new hues. As the original events were exemplary, they were used as a reference points for social examples, cohesion and control. Generation after generation, people followed the example and others were made to do so. When great sages put them down in writing, their literary prowess added another facet to them. Poetry, Songs, literature, ballads and other art forms blossomed around to give additional dimension. These real life events with their growing size of following came to be religions. This thought process of people who passionately believe in any philosophy tying to get others to join them, happens to day, albeit in a more subtle and sophisticated manner with modern communications! These legends have survived time travel through wars, social growth and unimaginable social changes and space age. This is true for all religions and some more recent political philosophies.
There is no for and against argument for this. It is not only irrelevant but also shallow to debate the existence Ramayana the way we know it today or see on TV. One should accept that its roots firmly lie in history, recorded or before that. Its origins might even lie beyond India, as we know today. This should never become a conflict between believers and those who don’t. It is beyond the purview of a few bureaucrats, politicians, and sociologists or for those matter religious zealots to conclude this issue. If there is no historic evidence, are we going to discard our way of life, the rich culture, literature and social fabric that is woven around it? Certainly not! If there is no proof of gods, do we destroy the great temples that are part of thousands of years of our history? Do we burn Annamayya's and Thayagaraya’s great works? Do we destroy countless volumes of extraordinary, exquisite poetry and literary works? In one word do we destroy our entire past? What is this debate all about?? Let us not try to revisit and alter history.
I fail to even understand Mr. Karunanidhi’s rhetoric! On the one hand he says that Ramayana did not happen. In the same breath he argues that Ravana was a Brahmin and Ramayana was a battle between Aryans and Dravidians. If this were true, there seems to be contradiction here. He questions which engineering qualification Rama had, to build the Sethu! Can Mr. Karunanidhi say which engineering degree the builders of the great pyramids and monuments of Egypt had? Can he tell us what qualifications the builders of the Great Wall of China had or the architects of Inca cities and Maya pyramids in central and South America, Mohanjodaro and Harappa?.
Equally intolerable is the response of his opponents. Their intolerance to any civilized debate is obvious by their attacks on Selvi’ house and burning TN bound buses resulting in deaths of two people. Those unfortunate souls may not even be Mr. Karuna’s supporters.
With the constant erosions of coast line and shifting land masses, it is quite possible that all the reef we see from satellite might have been a land mass with only a small gap which ancient people could have quite easily crossed. Why do we have to imagine that the gap that is being discussed was always as it is now, 26 kilometers long? This whole debate whether there is historic evidence is irrelevant. All religions belong to people who wish to live in that cultural milieu. It certainly is not the prerogative or private property of people or organisations that want to use them for their narrow political, communal or geo-political gains. No one is the custodian of any religion.
Let us examine the second aspect of the controversy. To dredge or not to dredge a small strip of the reef that is blocking a shipping channel. This has to be judged purely on the economic need and utility and the benefits it would bring. Panama canal, Suez, and several others are examples. These have made tremendous difference to the world at large. All the great dams that were built, throughout the world, submerged countless villages and habitations en route. What happens when dams and large irrigation projects are built that bring vast tracts of lands under cultivation and feed millions of hungry people? Are not temples, great historic monuments and countless deities that are in the villages, submerged? Wherever possible they have been moved to a different place or museum as in Nagarjuna Sagar that submerged entire Buddhist Temple complexes. There are countless examples all over the world. When simple road widening or flyover has to be built, don’t we move or remove religious monuments small and large? Most bpeople, religious and other wise, are perfectly happy with this. It is the people who wish to make political capital, that are debating this issue. Not because of any great religious devotion but for their narrow selfish, short-term gains. Are the religious objectors to Sethu opposed to building dams, large irrigation projects or roads and for that matter, any development? I don’t remember Mr. Narendra Modi opposing Narmada Dam project or Mr. Vajpayee opposing building great high ways while he was PM. They must have destroyed a few temples and deities in the process!
The Ramar Sethu issue has to be taken up or dumped based on whether there is conclusive evidence of substantial economic benefit and proof of clearly established environmental safety, short and long term. This has to be discussed purely on these criteria and not on faiths, political opportunism or large kick backs people in important places can make out of a nice juicy project of this size.
Gods are not going to oppose measures that bring food and prosperity to the hungry. Gods are not going to stand in the way of progress. I certainly do not believe Lord Rama would!
Dr.Mitra, 19th Sept 2007
The current hot debate and the political tug of war going on about Ramar Sethu issue, is being mishandled without clarity and direction. It is a total lack of understanding on the part of the UPA govt. and sheer opportunism on the part of the Hindutva brigade and DMK.
Let us break it up into its constituent issues, First is the debate about Rama and the second is the economic need for dredging a channel.
Addressing the first issue - Any mythology has its roots in historic events. Events that happened a long time ago before image capture technologies, print and communications came into existence. The knowledge and comprehension of the small, primitive, illiterate populations that existed several millennia ago, was limited. Events that happened in their lifetime, that made a profound impact on their lives, were remembered and passed down generations as stories, fables and legends. This was mostly as word of mouth. To keep them interesting and keep the legend alive, larger than life metaphors and interesting figures of speech were added. This is what is done even to day in marketing and media to make a story captivating. In their long journey through time, these narrations passed down several generations, metamorphosed to acquired new hues. As the original events were exemplary, they were used as a reference points for social examples, cohesion and control. Generation after generation, people followed the example and others were made to do so. When great sages put them down in writing, their literary prowess added another facet to them. Poetry, Songs, literature, ballads and other art forms blossomed around to give additional dimension. These real life events with their growing size of following came to be religions. This thought process of people who passionately believe in any philosophy tying to get others to join them, happens to day, albeit in a more subtle and sophisticated manner with modern communications! These legends have survived time travel through wars, social growth and unimaginable social changes and space age. This is true for all religions and some more recent political philosophies.
There is no for and against argument for this. It is not only irrelevant but also shallow to debate the existence Ramayana the way we know it today or see on TV. One should accept that its roots firmly lie in history, recorded or before that. Its origins might even lie beyond India, as we know today. This should never become a conflict between believers and those who don’t. It is beyond the purview of a few bureaucrats, politicians, and sociologists or for those matter religious zealots to conclude this issue. If there is no historic evidence, are we going to discard our way of life, the rich culture, literature and social fabric that is woven around it? Certainly not! If there is no proof of gods, do we destroy the great temples that are part of thousands of years of our history? Do we burn Annamayya's and Thayagaraya’s great works? Do we destroy countless volumes of extraordinary, exquisite poetry and literary works? In one word do we destroy our entire past? What is this debate all about?? Let us not try to revisit and alter history.
I fail to even understand Mr. Karunanidhi’s rhetoric! On the one hand he says that Ramayana did not happen. In the same breath he argues that Ravana was a Brahmin and Ramayana was a battle between Aryans and Dravidians. If this were true, there seems to be contradiction here. He questions which engineering qualification Rama had, to build the Sethu! Can Mr. Karunanidhi say which engineering degree the builders of the great pyramids and monuments of Egypt had? Can he tell us what qualifications the builders of the Great Wall of China had or the architects of Inca cities and Maya pyramids in central and South America, Mohanjodaro and Harappa?.
Equally intolerable is the response of his opponents. Their intolerance to any civilized debate is obvious by their attacks on Selvi’ house and burning TN bound buses resulting in deaths of two people. Those unfortunate souls may not even be Mr. Karuna’s supporters.
With the constant erosions of coast line and shifting land masses, it is quite possible that all the reef we see from satellite might have been a land mass with only a small gap which ancient people could have quite easily crossed. Why do we have to imagine that the gap that is being discussed was always as it is now, 26 kilometers long? This whole debate whether there is historic evidence is irrelevant. All religions belong to people who wish to live in that cultural milieu. It certainly is not the prerogative or private property of people or organisations that want to use them for their narrow political, communal or geo-political gains. No one is the custodian of any religion.
Let us examine the second aspect of the controversy. To dredge or not to dredge a small strip of the reef that is blocking a shipping channel. This has to be judged purely on the economic need and utility and the benefits it would bring. Panama canal, Suez, and several others are examples. These have made tremendous difference to the world at large. All the great dams that were built, throughout the world, submerged countless villages and habitations en route. What happens when dams and large irrigation projects are built that bring vast tracts of lands under cultivation and feed millions of hungry people? Are not temples, great historic monuments and countless deities that are in the villages, submerged? Wherever possible they have been moved to a different place or museum as in Nagarjuna Sagar that submerged entire Buddhist Temple complexes. There are countless examples all over the world. When simple road widening or flyover has to be built, don’t we move or remove religious monuments small and large? Most bpeople, religious and other wise, are perfectly happy with this. It is the people who wish to make political capital, that are debating this issue. Not because of any great religious devotion but for their narrow selfish, short-term gains. Are the religious objectors to Sethu opposed to building dams, large irrigation projects or roads and for that matter, any development? I don’t remember Mr. Narendra Modi opposing Narmada Dam project or Mr. Vajpayee opposing building great high ways while he was PM. They must have destroyed a few temples and deities in the process!
The Ramar Sethu issue has to be taken up or dumped based on whether there is conclusive evidence of substantial economic benefit and proof of clearly established environmental safety, short and long term. This has to be discussed purely on these criteria and not on faiths, political opportunism or large kick backs people in important places can make out of a nice juicy project of this size.
Gods are not going to oppose measures that bring food and prosperity to the hungry. Gods are not going to stand in the way of progress. I certainly do not believe Lord Rama would!
Dr.Mitra, 19th Sept 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
To Do or Not To Do
The economy is more global than ever. Businesses need multi-cultural diversity in order to be competitive. But more than these reasons, businesses across the globe needs talent pool, innovation and adaptability. What will be the fate of businesses in the world's largest economy when they are deprived of talented employees? That is the problem that United States is facing today. Green Cards, which are also called Immigrant Visas are very effective tools for US businesses to attract best talent from across the globe. But, there are serious issues with the way they are implemented today. Every country is subject to numerical caps (which I think is correct). Otherwise there will be no diversity in the country and demographics will change. Having said that, the limit of just 10000 Green Cards (which counts each family member of the primary applicant), is a serious limitation. Employment applicants from India, China etc which produce large pool or Engineering and Science graduates are considered same as some other countries which produce proportionally very less graduates of these disciplines. Whether one likes it or not, it is very difficult to manage talent. We need to nurture, manage and pay to get good things in life. If USA doesn't pay attention to the Legal Employment Immigration, whoever knows their self worth will migrate to countries which provide the same. Can USA afford to lose it's edge?
I think it is a big NO. US lawmakers should fix the employment based Green Cards issue ASAP. Or, nobody would like to be in a state of flux for more than 4 years. Stable immigration status ignites innovation and grows economy.
Some attractive alternatives are India, China, Canada, Australia, Europe, New Zealand where one gets equal if not more salaries and other perks where migration is hassle-free.
Immigration Voice is organizing a rally on 18th Sept at Washington D.C, while the Congress is in session to highlight this issue and urge the Govt of USA to act, and to act fast. It is a great day in the history of Legal Immigration where highly skilled educated and qualified men and women (some are bringing their children) are peacefully protesting in the national capital.
Every Indian,Chinese, American and other parties who like to see USA shine should support this. Every one who can make it to the rally should join thousands of volunteers and show support. Support this because it is fair and right thing for the country.
I think it is a big NO. US lawmakers should fix the employment based Green Cards issue ASAP. Or, nobody would like to be in a state of flux for more than 4 years. Stable immigration status ignites innovation and grows economy.
Some attractive alternatives are India, China, Canada, Australia, Europe, New Zealand where one gets equal if not more salaries and other perks where migration is hassle-free.
Immigration Voice is organizing a rally on 18th Sept at Washington D.C, while the Congress is in session to highlight this issue and urge the Govt of USA to act, and to act fast. It is a great day in the history of Legal Immigration where highly skilled educated and qualified men and women (some are bringing their children) are peacefully protesting in the national capital.
Every Indian,Chinese, American and other parties who like to see USA shine should support this. Every one who can make it to the rally should join thousands of volunteers and show support. Support this because it is fair and right thing for the country.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
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