User:Natanxoza/Dalip Singh Saund

Biography

Saund was born in Chhajulwadi, Amritsar district, Punjab Province, British India (now Chhajjalwaddi, Punjab, India), to an Indian Punjabi Sikh family. Saund's father was employed as a construction contractor for the government, and his mother was a housewife. Both raised at the start of the era of British Colonialism when due to a tax system, there was no money left for education, Saund's mother and father were illiterate and very motivated to provide education to their children.His father died when Saund was only ten, so his mother raised a family of 7 children (3 girls and 4 boys).

Saund received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Punjab in 1919. He moved to the United States (via Ellis Island) with a plan to study agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, and then return to India. While at the university, he obtained a master's degree (1922) and a PhD (1924), both in mathematics. His studies were sponsored by Stockton Gurdwara in Stockton, California as he lived in the gurdwara-owned Guru Nanak Khalsa Hostel. Stockton Gurdwara was "the first permanent Sikh American settlement and gurdwara in the United States."

In 1928, he "had married an American girl", Marian Kosa, a teacher and the daughter of a Saund's close friend. They had three children: a son, Dalip Jr., who worked as a lieutenant in the Korean war in the U.S. Army, and two daughters, Julie and Ellie, who both obtained higher education at the University of California.. With his family, Saund settled on a ranch in Westmorland, California, where he became a farmer with his own farming equipment. During this period, the California law forbade people of Asian descent to own land, so Saund's friend had to sign a contract for farming equipment in his name. Saund addressed such an issue in his autobiography Congressman from India. He explains:

"I was aware of the considerable prejudice against the people of Asia in California and knew that few opportunities existed for me or people of my nationality in the state at that time. I was not a citizen and could not become one. The only way Indians in California could make a living at that time was to join with others who had settled in various parts of the state as farmers".

During Great Depression in the United States, Saund's business was at the risk of shutting down because of accumulated debt. Thanks to Saund's persistence and education, he succeeded to save his business and open fertilizer company around 1953 in Westmorland.

Family portrait photograph of the Saund family (1957)

Political engagement

Saund showed his political activism during his studies at the University of Punjab. He was involved in a political movement for Independent India.

During his time at the University of California, he became a president of Hindustan Association of America. He became a famous public figure because he campaigned to allow people of South Asian descent to become naturalized citizens. In 1952, he ran again for the same post and won by becoming a country judge. He kept this position until 1957, and addressed issues such as prostitution, border trafficking, gambling, police misconduct, and domestic abuse.

In November 1955, he announced his campaign to run for the House of Representatives as a Democrat and won an election for an open seat against a famous Republican aviator, Jacqueline Cochran. Even though his political opponents tried to disqualify him on the basis of not being an American citizen for seven years, he won. He was re-elected twice, becoming the first Sikh American, the first Asian American, the first Indian American and first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress.

On May 1, 1962, Saund suffered a severe stroke on an airplane flight which left him unable to speak or walk without assistance. Though unable to campaign, he won the June Democratic primary (running in the newly numbered 38th district) but was defeated for reelection in the November general election by Republican Patrick M. Martin by a 56% to 44% margin.

Following his defeat, his condition slightly improved, allowing him to be moved from a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland to California. He had a second stroke about 10 years later and died on April 22, 1973 at his Hollywood home. His colleagues held a memorial service for him and he was remembered as "a classic American success story".

Natanxoza (talk) 20:53, 1 December 2022 (UTC)