Dalip Singh Saund

The U.S. Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee was recently reported to have rejected the proposal to issue a stamp commemorating Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian to be elected to Congress in 1956. But Indian Americans and various legislative bodies have not given up the effort to garner recognition for the late Congressman.

The two-year campaign initiated by the Global Punjabi Diaspora in Los Angeles in September 2002 and carried forward by no less than the California State Senate and House, the American Federation of People of Indian Origin (AFPIO), and joined by numerous Congressmen and women is far from dead.

On Nov. 17, Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA) was joi-ned by some 50 Democratic and Republican legislators from California, introducing H.R. 5374, to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 30777 Rancho California Road in Temecula, California, as the ‘Dalip Singh Saund Post Office Building.’

In so many ways, the concerted campaign by different elements in American society, to get recognition for Saund mirrors that Congressman’s own determination to make gains for Indian Americans and by implication for Asian Americans.

Back in the 1940s, Saund’s first campaign was to get citizenship for Indians. According to some accounts, Saund joined a group of Indians from California and New York, and convinced Congresswoman Clare Booth and Rep. Emanuel Celler to introduce such a bill which was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman on July 3, 1946. Ten years later, Saund was first elected, and then twice re-elected in 1958 and 1960 to the House.

Bobby Jindal, the Republican Congressman-elect from Louisiana’s 1st District, is the 2nd Indian American to make it to Congress. His election has further energized leaders in the community to bring attention to Saund’s historic victory nearly 50 years ago, but the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee’s rejection has put somewhat of a damper on the preparations for Saund’s Golden Jubiliee celebrations being organized for 2006.

The Indian American Heritage Foundation (IAHF) launched a petition drive asking people to send a letter to the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee, Washington, D.C., urging it recommend a commemorative stamp for Saund on Nov. 6, 2006. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) also wrote to the Committee supporting this effort.

The IAHF argued that Saund “is still a source of inspiration and worthy role model for over 10 millions Americans of Asian origin. Today, Asian Americans seeking political office often invoke Saund’s name in their election campaigns. It would be a matter of pride for the entire Asian American community to see the life of Congressman Saund honored with a commemorative U.S. postal stamp.”

The U.S. Postal Service, however, in a letter to the AFPIO, said that the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee “did review this nomination” but could not accommodate the Indian American leader. This despite an appeal on Dec. 6 by the California State Assembly which introduced a measure asking the President and Congress of the United States “to urge the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee and the United States Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp to honor Dr. Dalip S. Saund.”

“A limited number of stamp subjects are chosen for each yearly program. Unfortunately, a vast majority of suggestions submitted, including many meritorious and meaningful subjects, cannot result a stamp,’’ the U.S. Postal Service letter said, according to AFPIO.

“But we are not giving up,” said AFPIO President Ramesh Gupta in a press release. On Jan. 22, 2005 at the ‘India Night’ function in Dallas, Gupta said, the AFPIO plans to restart the petition drive. And in March, a Saund souvenir will be launched at an event where President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are being invited. The release did not say whether the invitations were accepted.

In July, Rep. Wilson, introduced a bill to put up Saund’s portrait in the Capitol rotunda. The fate of this bill and of the one for renaming a postal office in California is yet to be decided.