Moving Indian American's Forward

Dhillon was asked to write a forward for a young Indian American legal scholar who at the time was studying at Columbia. At only 20 years old and an undergraduate who was about to publish a book, Neil Dhillon knew that Riddhi Dasgupta would be an inspiration to many. Riddhi Dasgupta wrote a book called Changing Face of the Law: A Global Perspective that was published in 2005. The forward focuses on a couple of ideas including what it means to be Indian American.

Neil Dhillon points out that there was an elected Indian-American in congress in 1956, Dalip Singh Saund, and it took 48 years for another Indian-American, Bobby Jindal to be elected. This he understands is a problem and argues that Indian Americans “must focus on bridging the gap.”He is happy to see that there are more Indian Americans who try to run for an office and called 1994 when many ran as a “watershed year for Indian Americans on the national stage.”

He points out that as more Indian Americans run for an office, the less rare it will be. When he was a congressional aide to Bob Matsui, he was the first one. He pointed out in the forward that in 2005, there were many.

He hoped that the same would happen with the emergence of elected members of the House of Representatives. This underlying idea and belief is what has led Neil Dhillon to continue his support of Indian Americans pursuing legal fields and Political Aspirations. Neil Dhillon continues to be a leader in the Indian American community precisely because they know that he pursues a path that will lead to greater political representation and can hopefully open more doors that remain shut.