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'I request you to be careful'

The following letter was sent to Reverend Jesse Jackson by Professor S P Udayakumar. The letter has gone unanswered for two weeks.

April 27, 1999

Reverend Jesse Jackson
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
930 East 50th Street
Chicago, IL 60615-2702
(Fax: 773-373-3571)
(Phone: 773-373-3366)
(Phone in NY: 212-425-7874)

Dear Rev Jackson

Greetings! I am a Research Associate at the Institute on Race and Poverty, University of Minnesota. I have come across newspaper reports which claim you are going to dedicate the Jayalalitha International Institute of Preventive Medicine in Chicago on May 15.

I would very much like to request you to be careful about letting the Institute folks associate your good name with the name of Ms Jayalalitha Jayaram. Ms Jayaram was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian province for five years and now stands accused of serious criminal offenses including corruption charges, claims of amassing disproportionate wealth and so forth. In the 1996 state elections, she herself was badly defeated and her party was completely routed. She is quite a notorious character in Indian politics and it is not clear what kind of connection she has with this Institute. She is neither a voice of minorities in Tamil Nadu or India nor does she have an impeccable record of fighting for people's political and civil rights as you do in this country.

So please do investigate thoroughly before you let your name be associated with this project.

With best personal regards and all peaceful wishes,

Sincerely,

S P Udayakumar, Ph D

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