A PUNJABI BUSINESSMAN TRANSFORMED THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF INDIANS IN THE UNITED STATES

Highlights:

• Jagjit Singh, a prominent businessman and lobbyist, may be seen standing to the left of US President Harry Truman as he signs the Luce-Celler Act of 1946 into law.
• Jagjit singh played a important role in moulding american politics

Singh, a New York-based Indian businessman, was not only a fervent supporter of India’s independence movement, but he also played a key role in moulding American politics and helped millions of Indians in getting US citizenship.

The signing of this bill gave citizenship to the 4,000 or so Indians already living in the United States and established a quota of 100 Indians and 100 Filipinos per yearwas the culmination of a successful struggle by Indians in the United States to overturn the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1923 United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind case, which effectively denied them naturalization, as well as the 1924 Immigration Act passed by Congress, which barred immigration from Asia
President Truman gave up the pen he used to sign the Luce-Celler Act into law to Jagjit Singh, also known as JJ Singh, after the ceremony.
Today, that pen has been passed down to his granddaughter Sabrina Singh, who was USVice-President Kamala Harris’ deputy press secretary until last month, when she resigned to join the US Department of Defense.

The Luce-Celler Act paved the way for the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, a more broad-based piece of legislation that removed restrictions on the number of people from any given country who could immigrate to the United States.

In other words, this 1965 law abolished the quota system entirely, allowing immigrant families to reunite while also allowing for greater movement of skilled labour to US soil.
Once signed into law, it opened the floodgates for Indians seeking a better life in the United States.Here’s the incredible story of JJ Singh, the man who started it all for Indian Americans
Experiencing the freedom struggle and amassing wealth on foreign soil
Singh, who was born on October 5, 1897 in Rawalpindi, grew up in relative privilege because his father was a judicial officer. As a child, he travelled with his father to various parts of British India’s former Punjab provinces.
 
Following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, things changed for young Singh. He joined MK Gandhi’s mass non-cooperation movement.
However, after Gandhi abruptly cancelled it in 1922 due to violence in Chauri Chaura, Singh became disillusioned and left India to study law in the United Kingdom.
On foreign soil, however, his attention was drawn to clothing. With the help of his cousin, he soon got into the business of importing silk fabrics, handlooms, and other such items from India and selling them abroad.

In 1926, he travelled to the United States to exhibit his work at the Sesquicentennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. He went on to open a fabric store in Philadelphia and another on New York’s 5th Avenue.
In New York, business was booming, with the city’s fashionable crowd wearing his dresses and gowns. His success in the Indian clothing and textile business allowed him to enter some of the city’s most influential circles.

Singh also became a member of the India League of America, a group of members of the Indian community in New York who met on a regular basis at two Manhattan restaurants.
However, he was dissatisfied with the organization’s internal workings. He felt they spent too much time discussing Indian philosophy and literature rather than actively advocating for Indians in America and their home country.
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Dr. Kirti Sisodhia

Content Writer

CATEGORIES Business Agriculture Technology Environment Health Education

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