Close X
Saturday, September 21, 2024
ADVT 
National

Nikki Haley Says She Sounds Strong Because That's How Her Sikh Parents Raised Her

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Apr, 2017 10:04 AM
    A Punjabi may be out of Punjab, but Punjab is never out of her.
     
    Nikki Haley, the outspoken US ambassador to the UN, says if she comes out sounding strong, it's because that's how she was raised by her parents, who are Sikhs from Punjab.
     
    She does her "job to the best of my abilities and if that comes out blunt, comes out strong, I am one of two brothers and a sister and my parents raised us all to be strong," she said at a news conference on Monday.
     
    Her father Ajit Singh Randhwa, is from Amritsar district. He is an agriculture science professor. Her mother is Raj Kaur Randhwa.
     
    One of her brothers, Mitti Randhwa, was an Army officer who saw action in Operation Desert Storm, 1990-91, leading a company tasked with finding chemical weapons.
     
     
    Just over two months into her office as the first Indian American to be appointed to a cabinet-level position, she has made waves by calling a spade a spade, if not a shovel, in an arena where a diplomat may delicately call it a spoon.
     
    She has called the UN Human Rights Council "corrupt", the UN of being a partner of a "corrupt" government, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a "war criminal", and declared she was free to "beat up on Russia".
     
    And she perceives her job as shaking up the UN and pulling it by its purse strings, kicking and screaming, to carry out reforms.
     
    A TV reporter addressed her as "Madam President" because she presides over the Security Council this month, and quipped that's what she may be called in eight years -- a hint that she may become the nation's President.
     
     
    Haley said that in every job she has held "people assumed I was looking for something bigger".
     
    But, she said, "In reality I am the daughter of Indian parents who said to me whatever you do be great at it and make sure people remember you for it. That's all I have ever shown, try to be."
     
    Haley has emerged as the face of American diplomacy with her outspokenness and availability to the public and the media - she was on three Sunday morning TV talk shows speaking out on US foreign policy, in addition to a speech at the Council on Foreign relations.
     
    Unlike most of President Donald Trump's cabinet and top officials she has a warm relationship with the otherwise belligerent media.
     
     
    In contrast, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has kept away from the media and minimised public appearances. Even his spokesperson, Mark Toner, is a holdover from President Barack Obama's administration.
     
    This makes Haley the only accessible authentic voice of Trump foreign policy, raising her public profile.
     
    That in turn has led to media speculation in recent days that she is likely to succeed Tillerson.
     
    Answering a question if she was offered the job of Secretary of State, Haley said that Trump did not make the offer when she met him at the Trump Tower barely two weeks after the election in November.
     
    But she said, "The original call that I got to go to Trump Tower was to discuss Secretary of State."
     
     
    She added, "When we went in that was the position we were discussing."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Coroner Says Carbon Monoxide Suspected In Deaths Of Four People In B.C.

    Coroner Says Carbon Monoxide Suspected In Deaths Of Four People In B.C.
    ASHCROFT, B.C. — British Columbia's coroners service suspects carbon monoxide killed a family of four in their home in the province's Interior.

    Coroner Says Carbon Monoxide Suspected In Deaths Of Four People In B.C.

    Days Of Israel-bashing Over, Nikki Haley Tells UN

    Days Of Israel-bashing Over, Nikki Haley Tells UN
    Reiterating her pro-Israel stance, Indian-American Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, has asserted that the United States will continue to support Israel.

    Days Of Israel-bashing Over, Nikki Haley Tells UN

    Slide Alert Issued In Same B.C. Community Where Four Were Killed

    Slide Alert Issued In Same B.C. Community Where Four Were Killed
    JOHNSONS LANDING, B.C. — A tiny British Columbia community where four people were killed in a landslide almost five years ago has been warned of another possible slide.

    Slide Alert Issued In Same B.C. Community Where Four Were Killed

    'Very Grateful:' Driver Returns Birthday Cash To Woman Who Left Purse On Train

    'Very Grateful:' Driver Returns Birthday Cash To Woman Who Left Purse On Train
    CALGARY — A woman who left behind a purse with $1,300 in birthday cash on a Calgary light-rail train says she can barely believe someone was honest enough to return it.

    'Very Grateful:' Driver Returns Birthday Cash To Woman Who Left Purse On Train

    Halifax Man Charged For Assaulting Distracted Texter, Police Say

    Halifax Man Charged For Assaulting Distracted Texter, Police Say
    Halifax Regional Police said the man punched the woman to the ground Friday afternoon after she almost bumped into him while she was texting.

    Halifax Man Charged For Assaulting Distracted Texter, Police Say

    Toronto Councillor Wants Pride Parade Grant Axed After Event Bans Police Floats

    TORONTO — A Toronto city councillor is calling for certain funding to be cut for the city's Pride parade after the event banned police floats from future festivities.

    Toronto Councillor Wants Pride Parade Grant Axed After Event Bans Police Floats