Friday, July 25, 2008

Indian immigrant runs for US Congress on anti-Sharia platform

Vijay Kumar, an immigrant from Hyderabad, India is contesting as a Republican in the Congressional race from Nashville, Tennessee - i.e. the heart of the Bible belt.
This guy has all the Conservative talk show hosts gushing - primarily owing to his candid views on Jihad and Sharia. Nothing wrong with that.
Coming from a Hindu perspective, however, I believe a small clarification is in order. Reading the biography on his own website, I hope he does not turn out to be a Bobby Jindal clone.


"Vijay was born in 1954 in Hyderabad, India, to a conservative middle class family. He studied classics, political science, and philosophy in India. In 1979, Vijay emigrated to the United States because he felt uplifted by the values and possibilities inherent in the American way of life.

In 1983, Vijay married Robin Minix, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky. In keeping with his conservative family values, Vijay and Robin have been married for twenty-five years. The Kumar family attends Bellevue Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Robin has worked for Vanderbilt University for more than twenty years, and currently is a program coordinator for the medical center. They have one son, age 17. Vijay is a staunch supporter of the father being an integral and ongoing presence in the family. He fervently believes that absentee fathers create future generations of absentee fathers.

From 1977 to 1979, Vijay lived in Iran, working in human resources for a European construction company. He witnessed firsthand the radical transformation of Iran from a modern nation to a repressed, fundamentalist state.

For twenty years, Vijay was employed in the insurance industry in administration and sales and marketing. For nearly three years he ran his own insurance business. Since 2005, he has been employed as a sales representative for a leading telecommunications company. While raising and providing for his family, Vijay has been active in politics, volunteering in key positions in several successful political campaigns. His interests include political philosophy, Middle East and Indian sub-continent politics and, first and foremost, American politics. When he’s not being an active and invested dad, husband, and wage earner, Vijay enjoys traveling and nature.

From the first day Vijay set foot on American soil, he knew that he must have been born with an American soul."

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