‘… in 1967, we concluded that an organization of Asian Indian immigrants who were proud of their Indian heritage and American commitment must be formed,” said Ms. Kanak Dutta, when describing the origins of AIA, the Association of Indians in America, during her interview in 2002 for the Oral History Project: The Immigrant Experience of Asian Indians in New Jersey. The association was the first of its kind in the US, and Ms. Dutta and her husband, together with some others, were its founders.

Kanak Dutta was also the first person of Indian origin to run for an Assembly Seat in New Jersey. But her keen interest in politics had begun long before she came to America. As a schoolgirl in Bagerhat, Khulna (in present-day Bangladesh) in 1942, she had participated in the Swadeshi Movement and spent hours making posters that read “British Quit India”.

After that, when in college in Kolkata, she joined the All India Students’ Congress and the All India Youth Congress. A few years later, however, disillusionment with the party set in because she felt enough was not being done for the common man. So she changed her allegiance and joined the Krishak-Majdoor Party led by Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. In 1951, she ran for a seat in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly but lost to the Congress candidate, Tarun Kanti Ghosh.

In the same year, Ms. Dutta married Manoranjan Dutta who was also very much involved in politics. Dr. Manoranjan Dutta came to the US in 1958 on a Fulbright Scholarship, and Kanak Dutta followed him to Pennsylvania the next year. There she majored in education, and became a school teacher. She also became involved with the local Board of Education and worked as a consultant for South Asians.

But it was when the Duttas moved to New Jersey in 1963 that their participation in US politics really took off. The sixties were an exciting time for people of Indian origin. Prior to that, the Asian Exclusion Act had been in force and so it was difficult for Indians to come to the US. Then, due to the shortage of “skilled labor” in different fields, the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 was passed, and engineers, doctors etc. of Indian origin were welcomed into the country.

By 1967, the need for an association to help them assimilate in their new home was obvious. As Ms. Dutta put it, “The specific agenda was to facilitate the participation of the fast-growing Indian immigrant community in the mainstream of American Society.” To this end, AIA formed several councils to help people from various disciplines – for example the AIA – Medical Council helped immigrant physicians from India, and the AIA – Engineering Council helped engineers. Also, when Idi Amin of Uganda expelled Indians from Uganda, AIA worked with then-Congressman Koch to admit 5,000 additional Ugandan Indians into the US.

Of great importance was the work that AIA – and Dr. Manoranjan Dutta – did to introduce the enumeration of Asian Indians as a separate category in the 1980 US census for the first time in the history of the US.

Also, for the first time, Asian Indians were classified as a constituent group of the Asian/Pacific Americans. As Kanak Dutta pointed out, this impacted the “lives of all Asian Indian immigrants in all fifty states of the United States of America.” “The Census figures have made the Asian Indian Americans a viable political group and the United States Congress and The White House have sought to address their needs ——Could you make our case if we did not have the census figures of Asian Indian population in support of our proposals.”

In 1972 Kanak Dutta and her husband became US citizens, and Kanak Dutta got directly involved in American politics. She was elected to represent her district, the12th district in Bridgewater Township, at the Somerset County Democratic Party Committee. She worked for the reelection committee of New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne, and then was appointed to Governor Byrne’s Ethnic Advisory Council. After that, she got involved in national politics and worked for President Carter’s reelection committee.

Many New Jersey democrats were supporting the candidature of then-Senator Kennedy, but Ms. Dutta said that it was “poor politics” to go against the incumbent President, and so she became a Carter delegate, and attended the Democratic National Convention in New York City. She was to attend several more Democratic National Conventions as a delegate – she was a Mondale Delegate at the Convention in San Francisco in 1984; in 1996 she attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a Clinton delegate, and in 2000 she was a Gore delegate at the Convention in Los Angeles.

In 1981 Ms. Dutta decided to run for the New Jersey Assembly. Her county chairman supported her, but also warned her that her county was a staunchly Republican county, and so her chances of winning were bleak.

“I argued that I wanted to prove I belong here and that I am a part of this society”, she said while speaking about that time. She campaigned door-to door but she lost the election; the electorate had voted Ronald Reagan into power and the Republicans were very popular. But she said she learned a great deal from her experience. “It made me more appreciative of the system. I became more understanding of it. I found that people liked me, but the party affiliation, their affiliation to the Republican Party – was too strong.”

Shamita Das Dasgupta, co-founder of Manavi, an organization that helps women of Indian origin who are in abusive situations, recalls Ms. Dutta telling her, “I didn’t win but I made people realize that I could be relied upon. Some people still didn’t trust me completely, but the number was less than before.” She also said, “It is difficult for the first generation to enter politics; but they have to make the attempt in order to make things easier for the coming generations. I find it completely understandable that I met with resistance.

If, in India, a woman of European origin had tried to enter politics, would Indians have welcomed her?” (This was said before Sonia Gandhi entered the Indian political scene, but one recalls all the different kinds of discussions about Ms. Gandhi at the time – as well as her subsequent position in the Congress Party.)

It is interesting to note that the attire that Kanak Dutta wore while campaigning — or even when she went to the Democratic Conventions and met with future and incumbent Presidents at conventions or at The White House was the sari. Ms Dutta told Das Dasgupta that an election meeting she said, “ My color is brown, I am of Asian origin, I cannot speak English like you, I wear a sari and I am a woman. But do not judge me by all this. Vote for me based on how I think.”

In her 2002 interview she spoke of how she went up to a woman who objected to her wearing a sari and told her, “to make decisions, I use my brain not my dress. The dress you wear does not make you a good American. A good American must have a good mind. Let us all try to pass that test.” After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, however, she changed her attitude.

“It dawned on me that I live in this country and I owe something to this country. I am part of this society, and my sense of belonging to this society must be pronounced to all… I will ask all Indian girls to be a part of the United States and not to be dogmatic about the dress. Just (a) sari does not make me a good Indian. To remain proud of our Indian heritage must be the core point. (The) AIA constitution refers to our Indian heritage and American commitment.”

Kanak Dutta passed away on 3 September 2018. During her lifetime, she acted as a mentor for politicians of Indian origin. Upendra Chivukula, who was a member of the New Jersey State General Assembly, and who now serves as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, says her strength lay in being able to mobilize support for causes and in fundraising. In fact Governor Jim Florio of New Jersey called her “the first lady of Indian-American politics.”

This was Kanak Dutta’s advice to Americans of Indian origin in her 2002 interview: “Be a very good, honest American citizen, participate in community activities … be an elected official and make excellent laws that will contribute to the welfare of all Americans.”

The writer is a retired librarian and lives in New Jersey.