Click to play videoAll praises and clichés for Barack Obama are now exhausted. He has made history by becoming America’s first black President; his countrymen expect him to change their lives for the better and the world hopes he will be reasonable and moderate.
Are miracles expected from Obama? What does his victory in the US Presidential election mean for the US, the world and India? CNN-IBN’s Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai asked to historian Ramachandra Guha, Dalit commentator Chandrabhan Prasad, Rajya Sabha MP Jay Panda, CNN Correspondent in Delhi Sara Sidner, and Toby Chaudhuri, a Democratic strategist and communications director for Campaign for America’s Future.
Racial divide over in America?
Obama’s election means that Americans who feel disadvantaged or think they have not been given a fair chance get that “extra spark” of hope, said Sidner.
Race relationships have not changed dramatically with Obama’s success but people now feel that they can make something concrete with their hopes and expectations. “People can longer use the excuse that ‘we have been waiting all these years and we don’t even have a black President,” said Sidner.
The most remarkable thing about Obama’s campaign is that he has made race incidental, said Guha. “Through his style of campaigning, through his intellect and persuasiveness of his arguments he has shown that he is far and away the best candidate for President. I think that is really Obama’s victory: he has made race irrelevant.”
US President George W Bush ranks very low in approval ratings and is now being called a lame duck. Did Obama just make use of the anti-incumbency factor and there is no revolution here?
No, there is a political revolution, said Chaudhuri. “Asian-Americans, Hispanics, lots more African-Americans, young voters and single women vote for Obama. This election is not just a change election—a change from the past—but a sea change election,” he said.
America and the world
Obama has earned goodwill across the world, but will he be able to improve America’s standing in the world?
“He will have to,” said Chaudhuri. The global financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will compel him to engage with the world.
“People are looking at one another with new eyes in America and the rest of the world is also looking at America with new eyes. All of a sudden America is that shining city on the hill.”
Guha was cautious about Obama’s success in building bridges. “What disappointed me were the remarks he made about Iran in his first press conference as president elect. He launched a tirade against Iran and its nuclear capabilities. As long as Israel has a nuclear bomb every other country in the Middle East will feel that a bomb is necessary for protection against American invasion. I think this pandering to the Israeli lobby was disappointing.”
Should India worry about Obama’s statement on Kashmir? In a TV interview before election day, Obama said that his administration would encourage India to solve the Kashmir issue with Pakistan.
Indo-US relationship can only improve, said Panda. “The relationship has been getting closer for a decade now and the process started with the Democratic administration under President Bill Clinton,” said Panda, who is a former president of an Indo-American parliamentarians’ forum.
“Let us not rush to judgment. Obama has also made statements that some our neighbouring areas were terrorists are taking shelter must not be mollycoddled and they should be held accountable. That should be music to any Indian’s ears.”
An Indian Obama?
Obama’s election has united America. He seems to have ended political divides almost. Is that possible in India?
“Between 1947 and 1950 we had a group of leaders who had transcended the sectarian divide,” said Guha. “Jawaharlal Nehru and B R Ambedkar were rivals in the forties but worked together to forge a federal, democratic and pluralistic Constitution. We have had a patriotic, far-sighted and non-sectarian leaders in the past,” he said.
Guha cautioned that India must not look for “God-like” leaders but for capable and non-sectarian politicians. “The Indian politician who gives me the best vibes today is Nitish Kumar (Bihar Chief Minister). He very clearly practises inclusive and non-sectarian politics. What India probably needs in every state is 15-20 constructive and non-sectarian leaders.”
Will India ever elect a politician for his or her merits alone? “It can happen if Indians themselves change,” said Prasad. Blacks are a minority in America but Obama has been elected by 52 per cent voters. “For a similar change in India, Dalits have to change and think differently and non-Dalits have to change and think differently.”
Panda wanted Indians to be more optimistic about their democracy. “If you go back 50 years we certainly didn’t have the upward mobility that is possible today in Indian society. We may not have had a Dalit Prime Minister but we have had Chief Ministers, Cabinets and Presidents That demonstrates that Indian society is getting empowered by democracy. Our system will open in due course. Our time will come,” he said.
America has made history but under Obama it still has to explain the world its stand on the two most pressing questions: the environment and the conflict in the Middle East.
“Will America pass on clean technology to developing nations? Will Obama commit to a just solution in Palestine, so that the rights of Israelis and Palestinians are resolved with equal justice to both,” asked Guha.
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