Can India ever get its own Barack Obama?

It is an interesting question as US presidential candidate Barack Obama stands on the threshold of history, the first African-American to be just a step from the White House.
What if Obama were African-Indian, bent on doing serious politics in India? Would he stand a fair chance? Would he even be taken seriously?
Probably not.
Though it���s taken the US a long time to have a black man run for president, it has a legendary tradition of multiculturalism in politics.It���s routine for immigrant Americans to rise to the top of the heap in government and public life. The number of Indian Americans in politics in the US at the last count in 2008 stood at 20.
Contrast this with India. Except for Sonia Gandhi, the world���s largest democracy is yet to show any appetite for a mixed race or even an ethnic Indian ���foreigner��� as political leader. This, despite its 22-million strong diaspora strewn from Ghana to Greenland. In fact, the only NRI in Parliament is Madhu Y Goud, a lawyer from Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh.
Imtiaz Ahmad, professor, political sociology, JNU, explains that this is because the Indian political system is still ruled by caste and ethnic consideration and not merit alone. ������To become a politician, you either have to be born in the right family or be associated with a prominent leader for a long time and wait to be nominated his successor,������ he says.
But Shashi Tharoor, who has always been in favour of Indian openness, believes it���s a supply problem because we lack ������good educated immigrants. We have lots of Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Sonia Gandhi and Katrina Kaif, but not too many other visible foreigners who can play such a role for us.������
Adds former civil servant K Subrahmanyam, ������We have a Roman Catholic (Sonia Gandhi) heading the Congress Party, so where is the question of a mind block (against non-Indians in public life)? It���s just a question of quality. Presently, the immigrants we get are skilled labourers and poor people, but in the second and third generation, I���m sure things will change������.
Everyone is agreed it���s not the Indian Constitution that is to blame. In fact, it���s one of the most progressive in the world on the hot-button issue of political parity. According to the letter of the law, India gives its naturalised citizens (those who acquired citizenship) the same political rights as those born Indian. In theory, then, an Indian national of African, American, Arab or any ancestry, can legally, and by right, participate in our democracy, whereas in the US, only citizens by birth can contest for the post of president and vice-president.
But the Indian guarantee is more in letter than in spirit. Goud admits that the journey from California to the capital of India hasn���t been easy. ������There were road blocks at every step. Senior leaders in the state threatened to resign and leave the party if I was given a ticket saying an NRI would be far removed from the realities of Indian politics,������ he says.
And yet, there is much to celebrate about multiculturalism in politics. ������Anybody who has lived outside brings a different perspective to the problems of their adopted country,������ says Goli Ameri, an Iranian-American, who is Assistant Secretary, Education and Culture and acquired US citizenship 19 years ago. ������Being an Iranian-American, I really, truly understand, the value of cultural exchanges and the advantage of knowing English,������ she says, stressing the advantages to America of having a diverse mix of people in public policy roles. Ameri���s colleague at the US State Department is Raj Chellaraj, an Indian-American who has clearly benefited from the US propensity to promote good workers regardless of ethnic origin. But many believe it may be hard to find an Ameri or a Chellaraj in South Block or North Block any time soon.
Goud says his foreign experience has made him do things differently and better in his drought-prone constituency. He says he freely gives his mobile number to anyone wanting it and ensures that as Nizamabad���s man in Parliament, his people have direct access to him. ������That���s why I give my visiting card in Telugu and English to whomsoever I meet. In the US, you can call your representative and ask him any question, but I found that lacking in India,������ he says.
But Jasbir Singh Kangura, Quila Raipur���s British-born-and-bred MLA who acquired Indian citizenship for the express purpose of getting into politics, insists India too can have an Obama if it wants. ������I���m British Indian and I have been accepted. No one rolled out a red carpet for me. It���s just that you have to be committed to public service and with that done, anyone ��� American, British-Indian or African ��� can join politics here,������ he says.
amrita.singh@timesgroup.com