Trump administration fires Indian-American Surgeon-General Vivek Murthy amid right-wing attacks

WASHINGTON: No one really expected Dr Vivek Murthy, the first Indian-American to become Surgeon-General of the United States, to remain in office in the Trump dispensation given that it is the prerogative of a new incoming administration to retain or remove political appointees. Besides, Murthy, an Obama nominee, had been in the cross hairs of the pro-Republican National Rifle Association (NRA) given his strong stand on gun ownership.
Still, the manner in which the Trump administration sacked Murthy on Friday left little doubt about the deep partisanship that is infecting Washington DC, where even the Surgeon-General’s post, a largely ceremonial bully pulpit office that counsels the nation on its health, is under the gun. ''Today, Dr. Murthy, the leader of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, was asked to resign from his duties as Surgeon General after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump Administration,'' the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lead by Trump’s cabinet appointee Tom Price said in a statement, adding, ''Dr. Murthy has been relieved of his duties as Surgeon General and will continue to serve as a member of the Commissioned Corps.''
Price thanked him for his dedicated service to the nation and asked Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Murthy’s deputy, to take over as the acting Surgeon General.
The London-born Murthy, 39, whose parents hail from Halligere village in Karnataka, is the second Indian-American to be fired from his position after US Attorney Preet Bharara. The Punjab-born Bharara was unceremoniously sacked last month after Trump had personally asked to stay on initially.
Their public sacking suggests that not only are Obama appointees in the line of fire, which is normal enough when a new administration (Republican or Democratic) takes over, but there is also an element of mistrust of foreign-born Americans engendered by right-wing nativists. Some right wing websites and trolls have been identifying such ''suspect'' personnel and seeking their ouster.
One such victim of the conservative media witchhunt is said to be Iranian-origin State Department official Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, who helped shape the U.S-Iran nuclear deal. Her year long assignment with the Secretary of State’s policy planning team was reportedly cut short after she was attacked by conservative media outlets such as Breitbart News, and she was reassigned to the Office of Iranian affairs without a specific assignment.
Murthy’s philosophy was always going to be at odds with the conservative movement given his antipathy towards guns and the right wing’s love for weapons. A graduate of Harvard College as well as the Yale University schools of medicine and business, he is known for his concerns regarding emotional well-being. ''We forget some of the oldest medicines are love and compassion,'' he was quoted as saying at a recent conference on behavioral health in Seattle.
In a Facebook post, Murthy wrote: ''For the grandson of a poor farmer from India to be asked by the President to look out for the health of an entire nation was a humbling and uniquely American story. I will always be grateful to our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve.''