By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has rebutted a news report that she snubbed the Sikh American community by skipping a fund-raising event at Bakersfield town in California that coincided with Guru Nanak’s birthday celebrations Sunday.
A spokesperson for Clinton’s campaign asserted that her non-attendance was due to a scheduling conflict and that she remains a time-tested friend of Sikh Americans.
“Hillary Clinton has been one of the most visible and vocal senators on issues important to the Sikh community. In fact, she personally met with the Sikh community after several hate crimes occurred in the aftermath of Sep 11,” campaign spokesperson Jin Chon said in a statement.
“She has also attended many events hosted by the Sikh community, including the Sikh Council on Religion and Education’s annual dinner. Hillary Clinton is proud of the support she has within the Sikh community and will continue to work with all Americans to bring about the change that this country needs,” the statement added.
Clinton campaign’s response was provoked by The New York Sun’s Nov 19 report titled “Sikhs seethe over a snub by Clintons”. The Sun is a Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative newspaper, known for its history of acrimony with the Clintons.
The newspaper quoted Sikh organisers of the fundraiser expressing dismay and bitterness about Senator Clinton’s no-show. They had planned to raise $1 million for her campaign on the occasion.
The possible reasons for Clinton’s late change of plan, proffered by the Sun story, included “security reasons”, her campaign’s vetting process, or a secret service review.
No matter what the reason, the daily said many Sikhs were upset, underscoring the risk of a backlash against Clinton as her campaign tightens its standards in an effort to avoid another scandal in the wake of negative publicity over her fund-raising in the Chinese immigrant community when news organisations found that some donations came from recent migrants who seemed to lack the means to give large cheques.
“We don’t know what the reason is,” Tejpal Singh, a trucking company owner who helped arrange the festival, told The New York Sun. “They just told us the night before the festival. Everybody’s shocked. They wanted to see her.”