With a pending application for a green card, Hari Kasula understands what he must do to stay in America.
“If my job is gone,” the 35-year-old entrepreneur from India said, “I’m out.”
Kasula, 35, lives in Illinois with his wife, a physician also seeking citizenship. Their 3-year-old son was born here.
After 10 years in the technology industry, in which American businesses aggressively hire Indian workers, Kasula switched career paths. He studied at the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, graduating in 2012. To maintain his employment status, he quickly launched an international political consulting firm.
Kasula now applies the techniques of American campaigning back in India. He advised two candidates in 2014 and has more clients lined up for 2017.
And his experience has inspired him to return to UA, where he and his former professors have launched the International Campaign Fellows, a program that introduces other internationals to American expertise in campaigning.
Kasula is deputy director of the program, which launched this week as 13 young professionals from India arrived in Akron. The 10-week immersion program specializes in experiential learning.
Much to learn
The young professionals, mostly here on student visas, will be trained in Columbus over the weekend before each is placed with the Ohio campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Four will remain in the Akron area. In October, the program will add another 15 from Brazil and Liberia.
Each traveler has come to learn the art of campaigning from the best in the business: Americans.
But the enrichment cuts both ways as the group brings a wealth of knowledge about how politics works in India.
For starters, the group explained, politics is as dirty a word in India as it is here. Trash-talking, pandering and name-calling are common during elections. The major difference, though, is that Indian culture encourages citizens to engage.
“In India, politics is part of your daily life,” said Pankhuri Pathak, a 24-year-old national spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party. “It’s as entertaining as anything else.”
Kasula said that while civility also is lacking in Indian politics, there’s a sense that the public must not shy from what separates them ideologically. “Generally, politics is seen as a dirty business in India,” he said. “But in India, people are very politically interested.”
Diverse views
America may be a melting pot built by immigrants. But India is the mother of diversity.
The country gave birth to four major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
“I’m a Muslim,” said Nasser Salim, another party spokesperson. He questions whether Trump, if a elected president, would allow him to return to America, given Trump’s proposal to screen travelers based on religion. “It concerns me and Muslims all across the country.”
Nasser and his wife, Nida Salim Khan, belong to the Samajwadi Party, which most closely aligns with progressive liberalism in America.
“Basically, we promote socialism,” said Nida, a lawyer for the government in Uttar Pradesh, a northern state in India and home of the Taj Mahal. The single state has 215 million people. If it were a country, it would be the fifth largest in the world.
India, a country of 1.1 billion people, is second in population only to China. The country has 1,761 registered political parties.
Six parties are national and about 50 hold seats in the parliamentary system.
“I think the people have a wider choice [with so many parties],” said Sharvendra Singh, who works for the forestry department. “That has been an advantage. But it’s also a negative. Not all choices are good.”
With so many unique voices represented in government, coalitions must be formed to advance broader agendas. Singh used the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 as an example of consensus building. After winning a 282-seat majority, BJP leader and prime minister elect Narendra Modi could have reshaped the government in his party’s image. “But they chose [instead] to bring other people along with them,” Singh said.
International concerns
As Indians, the young political workers are concerned about trade and immigration.
Trade, a $65 billion business between America and India, has been attacked from the left and right this election season. The group thinks Hillary Clinton is the better candidate to maintain open commerce.
“Trade was really good with Bill Clinton and George Bush,” said Nidhi Yadav, another participant. “Whether it’s Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, what will affect us is their policies. That’s what we’re here to study.”
Also concerning is the rise of American nationalism, fueled by anti-immigration sentiment.
“I don’t think the American people see the two sides of the immigration coin,” said Kasula, who works and pays taxes.
The argument is that illegal immigrants drive down wages by working for less while legal immigrants, who like Kasula are typically college-educated, snatch up the better-paying jobs.
Ultimately, Kasula said, “if Americans think immigration is a problem, they should check with the employers who invite us here.”
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug.