Indian American Nikki Haley’s selection as U.S. ambassador to the UN has been welcomed by many as a snub to the far-right by President-elect Donald Trump but left-leaning groups are not too pleased.
Conservative thinker and editor of Weekly Standard , Bill Kristol, said on Twitter: “Nikki Haley is a good pick for several reasons; one is that it’s a terrific ‘F__ You’ from Trump to the alt-right.”
David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama, said Ms. Haley was “a far better choice than others” Mr. Trump might have made. “How she’ll mesh in Trumpland is another question.”
‘Troubling appointment’
Planned Parenthood, an organisation that supports reproductive rights, said: “The ambassador to the UN must advocate for women, girls and marginalised communities. Nikki Haley’s potential appointment is troubling.”
Right-wing commentator Ann Coulter, a Trump supporter during the campaign, tweeted racist comments against Ms. Haley even before the selection was announced, while progressive groups expressed concerns over Ms. Haley’s opposition to federal carbon emission norms, her uncritical support to Israel and her conservative views on marriage and contraception.
Anti-racist positions
Being Governor of South Carolina, the State where the American Civil War started, Ms. Haley has taken strong anti-racist positions, while remaining a firm conservative on economic and gender issues. She ordered the removal of the Confederate Flag that is linked to slavery from a public building in 2015, infuriating some white groups. Ms. Haley has been arguing that the Republican Party must reach out to minority groups, a position not shared by a section of Mr. Trump’s supporters.
Speaking to the National Public Radio in 2012, she said of the role her Indian-American identity plays in politics: “It doesn’t ever go away. We had a white legislator that called me a raghead, and we had an African-American legislator that said I was just a conservative with a tan. You know, these things won’t stop.”
She is a practising Christian, but Ms. Haley always makes it a point to assert her Sikh parentage — she was born Nimrata Randhawa. “I’m going to tell you that I’m Indian. I’m going to tell you that, yes, my father wears a turban…,” she said, recalling how her father would try to remain unnoticed at her election rallies for fear of damaging her prospects.
Follow the rules
During her campaigns, many times people wanted her to say that Sikhism was wrong and her parents would go to hell. “And I would not do that. I’m very proud of the way they raised me,” she said.
Ms. Haley has conservative views on immigration. “I am a daughter of immigrants that came here legally. They paid the time. They paid the price. They’re offended by those that don’t follow the rules,” she said in the same interview.
In September 2014, she travelled from South Carolina to New York to meet Narendra Modi, during his first visit to the U.S. as Prime Minister.
