The following statements were issued by American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) and HinduPACT (initiatives of World Hindu Council of America) on Kamala Harris as Goddess Durga meme:
Statement by Ajay Shah, Executive Vice President, VHPA, Convener AHAD and HinduPACT:
“It seems to us that Sen. Harris, a self-acknowledged non-Hindu has now realized that in the battleground states, the Hindu votes matter. So, Senator Harris is now rapidly discovering her Hindu roots. Welcome home, Senator, you have now moved on from masala dosas and cleverly inserted reference to “chitti” to donning the dress of Goddess Durga. Do you want to know what those who practice Hindu dharma think about this cartoonish portrayal of you as Durga Mata? Before assuming the form of Durga Mata, through your niece, did you bother picking up a book on Hindu Dharma 101 or at least talk to your “chitti?” Hindus are offended, and Hindus are outraged, because you have insulted Hindu Goddess and while you continue to claim to be a non-Hindu, you have the audacity to assume the form of a revered Hindu Goddess during one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals, Navaratri for scoring political points.”
Statement by Utsav Chakrabarty Executive Director, HinduPACT:
“The caricature of Hindu deities wreaks is tokenism that has become a hallmark of Biden-Harris ticket. At best it is cheap and hurtful and at its worst, creates tank Hinduphobia in communities that already have very little knowledge about Hindu Dharma.”
Statement by Rakhi Israni, Executive Director, Legal, HinduPACT
“It’s quite telling that a campaign that won’t even put out an agenda for the Hindu American community when they have done so for other religious communities is misappropriating the religious symbols and pictures of this same community for their own purposes. In other words, it seems that what the Biden/Harris Campaign is saying is don’t ask what we will do for you, but continue giving your all to us. It’s about time Hindu Americans wake up. We can’t afford to be emotionally tied to one party or another lest we are taken for granted.”
The following statements were issued by American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) and HinduPACT (initiatives of World Hindu Council of America) on Kamala Harris as Goddess Durga meme:
Statement by Ajay Shah, Executive Vice President, VHPA, Convener AHAD and HinduPACT:
“It seems to us that Sen. Harris, a self-acknowledged non-Hindu has now realized that in the battleground states, the Hindu votes matter. So, Senator Harris is now rapidly discovering her Hindu roots. Welcome home, Senator, you have now moved on from masala dosas and cleverly inserted reference to “chitti” to donning the dress of Goddess Durga. Do you want to know what those who practice Hindu dharma think about this cartoonish portrayal of you as Durga Mata? Before assuming the form of Durga Mata, through your niece, did you bother picking up a book on Hindu Dharma 101 or at least talk to your “chitti?” Hindus are offended, and Hindus are outraged, because you have insulted Hindu Goddess and while you continue to claim to be a non-Hindu, you have the audacity to assume the form of a revered Hindu Goddess during one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals, Navaratri for scoring political points.”
Statement by Utsav Chakrabarty Executive Director, HinduPACT:
“The caricature of Hindu deities wreaks is tokenism that has become a hallmark of Biden-Harris ticket. At best it is cheap and hurtful and at its worst, creates tank Hinduphobia in communities that already have very little knowledge about Hindu Dharma.”
Statement by Rakhi Israni, Executive Director, Legal, HinduPACT
“It’s quite telling that a campaign that won’t even put out an agenda for the Hindu American community when they have done so for other religious communities is misappropriating the religious symbols and pictures of this same community for their own purposes. In other words, it seems that what the Biden/Harris Campaign is saying is don’t ask what we will do for you, but continue giving your all to us. It’s about time Hindu Americans wake up. We can’t afford to be emotionally tied to one party or another lest we are taken for granted.”
Two groups of Hindu Americans, Trump supporters and Biden supporters, held a debate on Zoom Sunday afternoon, and brought home the message that there is a sharp political divide among the Hindu community in the U.S.
The conventional wisdom is that a majority of Indian Americans, about 80 percent, voted for Democrats and the entry of Donald Trump as the presidential candidate in 2016 did not change the picture.
However, by 2020, political perceptions dramatically changed with Hindu Americans witnessing more overt pro-India, pro-Narendra Modi government initiatives by the Trump administration and on the other hand, an overtly hostile attitude by all levels of the Democratic Party toward the government led by Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.
In the face of controversies dogging the Democratic Party leaders over their public comments critical of India under Modi’s leadership, seen as pandering to Muslims, Biden supporters sought to respond with the anti-Trump talking points that Trump is a racist, misogynist, not a real friend of India and that his appearance at the Howdy Modi rally in Houston was transactional and he was there only for himself and for the Indian American votes.
If Biden supporters alluded to the Obama-Biden administration’s lifting of nuclear sanctions against India as a demonstration of Biden’s pro-India stance, Trump supporters brought to light how Biden as the senate foreign relations committee chair, passed a bill pumping billions of dollars for improving Pakistan’s economy, which ended up funding the Pakistan military and promoting terrorism across the border. On top of it, Biden received the highest national award given by the government of Pakistan. Trump, on the other hand, named Pakistan a ‘country of particular concern’ for supporting cross-border terrorism and drastically cut the financial aid to Pakistan. Hindus asked Obama administration to cut the aid to Pakistan, but he did not do it.
One of the Trump supporters pointed out that then President Obama, after his return from a visit to India spoke about “Muslim human rights” in India.
A much more direct question to the Biden team was about the party platform having sections on Muslim American community, and Jewish American community, but not about Hindu American community.
The Biden team’s response was that the Democratic Party as a policy recognized “cultural communities” and not religious communities, thus, its policy towards “Indian American community” is on the platform.
One of the panelists, Utsav Chakrabarty, a Trump supporter, said at least he wrote six letters to the Democratic Party leadership, as early as in May, asking them to post a policy paper on “Hindu Americans.” He did not get any response, but one of the Democratic Party operatives told him that unless he made contribution to Biden campaign, nothing would happen.
Tushar Dayagude, a Trump supporter, validated Chakrabarty’s assertion that campaign contribution was a must for Hindus to have their cause recognized. Dayagude was suggesting that Hindu Americans were largely contributing to Trump’s campaign and hence, the Biden campaign ignored Hindu Americans.
In this context, Srilekha Palle, a Trump supporter from Fairfox, Virginia, disputed the assertion that Hindu Americans largely donated to the Trump campaign and pointed out that a well-known Hindu American leader (from Houston) raised $3.5 million from Hindu Americans in one night for the Biden campaign.
Trump supporters effectively drove home the point that Democrats and Biden-Harris campaign pandered to Muslims and its support to Hindu cause was nothing more than “tokenism.”
A case in point, in 2012, during a Diwali celebration, (Hindu Festival of Lights) at the White House, Democrats invited the Islamic Society of North America, as one of the sponsors of the event and provided a platform for their spokesman to speak at the Hindu religious festival.
This brings us to, perhaps, the high water mark of the debate, at least visually and symbolically, which left the Biden supporters speechless.
Trump supporters showed on the screen a graphic tweet by Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris, which has since been removed from her Twitter account.
The graphic is very timely coinciding with the ongoing Hindu Festival called “Navratri” (literally Nine Evenings) where the woman power in Hindu pantheon is symbolically celebrated in different forms of the goddess during these nine days, where good triumphs over evil.
One such episode depicts the Goddess Durga, riding a lion, slays the demon. Meena Harris in her tweet, imposed Kamala’s face as Durga, made Biden as the lion and Trump as the demon being killed.
Ustav Chakrabarty said the only outreach the Biden community has made to the Hindu Americans is this kind of “tokenism, which at best is cheap and hurtful and at its worst, creates Hinduphobia.”
“Writing a nice greeting message during a Hindu festival does not touch up on the real generational trauma and the civilizational challenges that the Hindu community is grappling with in the U.S. and by extension, other parts of the world, he said.
“The Biden-Harris ticket has courted two of the biggest threats, both of which are historical, that are existing (against) the Hindu community, one is Islamism and the other is Marxism. The prevalence and promotion of anti-Hindu rhetoric at all levels of the Democratic Party, has not been criticized at all by the Biden-Harris ticket. In fact, they have actually gone on and supported many of these positions, and then occasionally, backtracked. Give up the tokenism, let us talk about the substantial issues,” Chakraborty said.
The panelists on the Biden side included Nish Acharya and Niki Shah. The Trump sided included Jay Kansara, a former director of governmental relations for the Hindu American Foundation in Washington D.C., who played a key role in the Howdy Modi summit. After nine years as the Washington insider, he was dismayed by the “swamp” of both the political parties and saw Trump providing a much-needed change as Washington outsider.
Asked why the Trump campaign did not respond to a questionnaire sent by the Hindu American Foundation PAC, while the Biden campaign did, Kansara said, though he did not represent the Trump campaign, HAF had asked him to get the response, but he found the questionnaire heavily biased and one sided against Trump, like the media, and advised the Trump campaign against responding to it.
The 2020 presidential debate on the American Hindu issues was co-sponsored by Hindu American Foundation, HAFPAC, HinduPACT, HinduVote and Coalition of Hindus of North America.
Rajeev Singh from HAF, Ajay Shah from the World Hindu Council of America and HINDUPACT and Sohini Sircar from CoHNA,represented their respective organizations. Rakhi Israni moderated the debate.
BOSTON–The Kashmiri Hindus will observe September 14 as “BALIDAN DIVAS.” This year will be 31st observation of this day. The Zoom webinar is organized by PANUN KASHMIR and is titled the “Remembrance & Reaffirmation.”
“We take this opportunity to, remember Kashmiri Hindus and members of Indian Security Forces who have been martyred over the years in protecting the interest of the nation, reaffirm our support to the struggle of Kashmiri Hindus against their genocide and seek a way forward,” organizers said in a statement.
The webinar will be held on Sunday, September 13 at 9:30 AM EST. Here is more information about the panel:
Webinar Date/Time: Sunday, September 13, 9:30 AM E.S.T (7:00 PM Indian time)
Duration: Approximately 90 minutes
Webinar type: Zoom Webinar with live streaming on Facebook, UTube, Twitter and various websites.
Welcome by: Dr. Shakun Malik, President, Kashmiri Overseas Association USA
Moderator: Sanjay Kaul, Vice President, World Hindu Council of America
Panelists:
Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, Chairman, Panun Kashmir
Prof. Ved Nanda, Sanghchalak HSS North America
Shri Sushil Pandit, Founder, Roots in Kashmir (RIK)
The board members of a small community in northern New York decided last week to keep the area’s controversial “Swastika” name after a visitor proposed a change earlier this summer.
Swastika is an unincorporated area within Black Brook, a small town located in Clinton County. Black Brook’s town supervisor, Jon Douglass, told North Country Public Radio (NCPR) that the board did not think changing the name was necessary because of the term’s meaning prior to its use in Nazi Germany.
The board discussed the name for about five minutes before voting unanimously to keep it, NCPR reported.
Douglass acknowledged that many in the U.S. think of the swastika in terms of its association with white supremacy, but he told NCPR, “I believe there are others that do not associate it with hate.” Douglass pointed to the Hindu and Buddhist religions, both of which have used a version of the swastika icon to represent spirituality. The symbol in Sanskrit that is used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism means “well-being,” according to the BBC.
Swastika’s original settlers decided on the name in the 1800s, and those who lived there in the wake of World War II defended the name for its original meaning, Douglass told NCPR. “Some of the residents that were from that area actually fought in World War II and refused to change the name just because Hitler tried to tarnish the meaning of swastika,” he said.
The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA)’s American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) initiative has in recent months argued in favor of differentiating between the swastika used as a “sacred symbol” and the version used by Nazis, known as the Nazi Hakenkreuz. In July, the AHAD encouraged the New York Senate to make the distinction clear while considering a new piece of legislation, which proposed requiring “New York school children be educated regarding the meaning of swastikas and nooses as symbols of hatred and intolerance.”
The proposed legislation would “perpetuate ignorance and promote HinduPhobia in schools across New York state,” AHAD Convener Ajay Shah said in a statement.
Swastika, NY Town Board Votes To Keep Its Name, Cites Use In Hindu, Buddhism
Published in Newsweek on Sept 21, 2020
The board members of a small community in northern New York decided last week to keep the area’s controversial “Swastika” name after a visitor proposed a change earlier this summer.
Swastika is an unincorporated area within Black Brook, a small town located in Clinton County. Black Brook’s town supervisor, Jon Douglass, told North Country Public Radio (NCPR) that the board did not think changing the name was necessary because of the term’s meaning prior to its use in Nazi Germany.
The board discussed the name for about five minutes before voting unanimously to keep it, NCPR reported.
Douglass acknowledged that many in the U.S. think of the swastika in terms of its association with white supremacy, but he told NCPR, “I believe there are others that do not associate it with hate.” Douglass pointed to the Hindu and Buddhist religions, both of which have used a version of the swastika icon to represent spirituality. The symbol in Sanskrit that is used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism means “well-being,” according to the BBC.
Hindu religious men from the Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan Maninagar, give final touches to a huge piece of folk art, a Rangoli, ahead of Diwali in Ahmedabad on October 24, 2011. This traditional Rangoli is shaped like a swastika, which Hindus believe is a symbol of progress. Last week, a small town in New York voted to keep the name of one of its unincorporated communities, which was named Swastika by its original settlers in the 1800s.
Swastika’s original settlers decided on the name in the 1800s, and those who lived there in the wake of World War II defended the name for its original meaning, Douglass told NCPR. “Some of the residents that were from that area actually fought in World War II and refused to change the name just because Hitler tried to tarnish the meaning of swastika,” he said.
The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA)’s American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) initiative has in recent months argued in favor of differentiating between the swastika used as a “sacred symbol” and the version used by Nazis, known as the Nazi Hakenkreuz. In July, the AHAD encouraged the New York Senate to make the distinction clear while considering a new piece of legislation, which proposed requiring “New York school children be educated regarding the meaning of swastikas and nooses as symbols of hatred and intolerance.”
The proposed legislation would “perpetuate ignorance and promotes HinduPhobia in schools across New York state,” AHAD Convenor Ajay Shah said in a statement.
The AHAD’s statement went on to say that identifying the differences between swastikas used in religion and the version used by white supremacists was important in embracing cultural diversity.
“To label the Swastika as a symbol of hate would be a grave insult to 1.8 billion Hindus and Buddhists around the world,” the AHAD said. “Maligning this ancient heritage would be a step backwards in promoting interfaith harmony and would lead to increase in hate crimes and Hinduphobia.”
Newsweek reached out to Douglass and the AHAD for comment.
Every year, Kashmiri Hindus observe September 14 as our Balidan Divas. This year the Global Kashmiri Hindu Community organized “BALIDAN DIVAS Webinar” on Sunday, September 13, 2020 through Zoom with live streaming on Facebook. Thousands of people participated in the program to commemorate martyrdom of Pandits & and the members of Indian security forces. This program was organized by Panun Kashmir organization and was supported by World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (HinduPACT) and Hindu Media Bureau (HMB). The topic aptly chosen was, “Smriti aur Sankalp – Remembrance & Reaffirmation.”
The program began with offering shradanjali homage to the departed. The webinar was moderated by Mr. Sanjay Kaul, Vice President, World Hindu Council of America (VHPA). In his opening remarks, Mr Kaul said, “It started with the murder of our great leader Pandit Tika Lal Taploo who fell to the bullets of militants of JKLF outside his home on September 13. This was followed by thousands of individual killings and massacres including Sangrampura Massacre; Gool Massacre; Wandhama Massacre; Telwani Massacre; Nadimarg Massacre etc. In Kashmir, it has been a continuous campaign against the minority Hindu community, early this year, we witnessed the brutal killing of Ajay Pandita Bharti. His crime was that he was a Hindu who went back to Kashmir valley to serve the people there.
Dr. Shakun Malik, President, Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA) USA welcomed all speakers and the audiences to the program. In her keynote address she said that hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits were killed by terrorists in Kashmir during militancy. We pay tribute to all those nationalist people and members of the security forces who sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorism in the state.
Mr. Sanjay Kaul, invited each panelist to share his or her insights and views on the topic. Firstly, Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, Chairman, Panun Kashmir, a political movement of Kashmiri Pandits founded as a result of the forced exodus and genocide of Hindus in Kashmir, in 1990s. Dr Chrungoo gavea historical context of J&K State and set the agenda in the context of Hindu genocide in Kashmir. Hesaid that Balidan Divas is observed by Kashmiri Pandits since 1990 to commemorate martyrdom of Pandits. He described horrific stories of torture & killings meted out to his community and then shared the aspirations of the Hindu community with the audiences. Next panelist Padma Bhushan Prof. Ved Nanda, Sanghchalak of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) North America stated that Martyrs day is observed as the day to protest the ruthless killing of Pandits by the terrorists as a mark of remembrance and reaffirmation. As an authority on International Law, he focused on describing the process to get Internally Displaced Person status for Kashmiri Hindus while waiting for a permanent solution? And closed his remarks by reaffirming the vision of Kashmiri Hindus to be settled back in a territory of their own as allowed by the constitution where they could practice political, economic, religious and cultural freedom.
The third panelist, Mr. Sushil Pandit, Founder, Roots in Kashmir (RIK) enunciated that during the disturbing phase, many women were raped, 1,500 Kashmiri Pandits and 5,000 security personnel were murdered, and more than 5 lakh people were thrown out of their homes. He also said that around 50,000 Kashmiri Pandits lost their lives due to starvation and devastation. Mr. Pandit being a scholar of history and a political commentator shared his impressions on the developments that have taken place post abrogation of Articles 370 & 35A and shared his opinion on where it will lead us.
The next panelist, Mr. Utsav Chakrabarti, Executive Director, Hindu Policy Analysis & Advocacy Collective (Hindu PACT) narrated some horrifying situations and how people left the valley due to the mass genocide and said that we remember those days and pay homage to all the people who lost their lives to the bullets of the Islamic terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. As a person who has been very active in Washington DC power circles for last 20 years, Mr. Charabarti spoke about his experience in terms of representation of the Kashmir issue in the US political space. He was thankful to Kashmiri Hindu diaspora for distributing information on Kashmir conflict and sharing a true narrative on what actually happened there.
The next panelist, Smt. Lakshmi Kaul, Founder, Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society (KPCS) talked about the nature and extent of the cultural loss suffered by the displaced Kashmiris as a result of the destructions by the terrorists. The exiled Kashmiris are not yet able to revive their language, literature, art music, and dance. She shared the concerns of the Hindu community and talked about how the Hindu diaspora could be mobilized to support the cause of Kashmiri Hindus.
The next panelist, Shri Shambhav Sharma, Creator & Host of “The Sham Sharma Show” narrated how the terrorists brutally devastated the Valley, once regarded a paradise on this earth, and hounded its original residents, the Kashmiri Pandits, out of their homes. Being media person who is in direct contact with ethnic Indian audience, Mr. Sharma spoke about how to engage Hindu diaspora, especially youth and young adults. He focused on the challenges, difficulties and hot button issues.
The final panelist was a teenager Sagar Koul. Sagar a second generation Kashmiri Hindu born and bough up in the USA, spoke about how he related to his parent’s passion for Kashmir as their homeland. He spoke about his interest to get involved in this struggle and a desire to be able to go to Kashmir at will.
In the last 30 minutes, audiences’ questions were answered by the panelists very methodically. Some audiences used Zoom chat or Facebook comments options to ask their questions. One of the participants said that this Zoom webinar was very informative and educational as she obtained the factual data from the primary sources and true-life stories.
At the end, Mr. Sanjay Kaul thanked all the panelists for their presentations and the audiences for their active participation in the program.
Democrats’ VP pick Kamala Harris evokes mixed reactions among Indian-Americans
Houston, August 16
Kamala Harris’ historic selection as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate has evoked mixed reactions from the influential Indian-Americans, with a majority of them voicing unfavourable views about the senator’s track record and her stance towards India and the community.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden scripted history on Wednesday by selecting 55-year-old Harris, an Indian-American and an African-American, as his running mate in the election on November 3.
Born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, California Senator Harris, if elected, would be the first woman vice president ever for the country.
While her nomination has filled many aspiring women, particularly young women of colour, with joy across the globe, Harris’ selection has also generated mixed reactions from about 3.9 million Indian-Americans, both Republicans and indecisive voters, who believe she lacks understanding of what she stands for and does not consider herself as a woman of Indian origin.
Radha Dixit, the founding member of Indo-American Conservatives of Texas, said, “The Democratic Party’s reliance on ‘Identity politics’ has undermined her campaign because the focus has shifted to her being Indian, Asian, Jamaican, African-American and a woman of colour. Divisions in these communities are now coming to surface. Nowhere did Kamala try to claim her Hindu or Indian heritage but people are thrusting their values on her”.
“If the Democratic Party platform and Kamala Harris’s position on policy issues are the basis for deciding this election as it should be, no conservatives, men or women, will support this ticket,” Dixit said.
Padma Shri awardee Subhash Kak, Regents Professor Emeritus at the prestigious Oklahoma State University is pleased with Harris’ selection but is not happy with her political affiliation.
“But I’m disappointed with her political positions that are not India-friendly and are far to the left on the political spectrum. In this, she appears to be consistent with Joe Biden who has adopted an agenda that does not acknowledge the need for a special relationship between the United States and India,” Kak said.
“She has always claimed to be of African descent rather than Indian and her record as an attorney in California is highly questionable. She has in fact promoted corruption in California,” said Aditya Satsangi, founder Americans4Hindus, an organisation that represents the interests of Hindus.
During her maiden address to the Indian-American community, Harris, however, did reflect on her proud Indian heritage.
“Growing up, my mother would take my sister Maya and me back to what was then called Madras because she wanted us to understand where she had come from and where we had ancestry. And of course, she always wanted to instil in us, a love of good idli,” Harris said.
Founder of the ‘Living Planet Foundation’ Kusum Vyas considers Harris’ nomination as refreshing but questions her track record.
“She has solid credentials, but do we need to support a person who is a known critic of India’s Kashmir policy and has a strong leaning towards Pakistan. She has recommended abolishing the legal immigration process and supports illegal immigration which hurts people from countries like India, who come here legally,” Vyas said.
“Harris is a supporter of the anti-India, anti-Hindu brigade, who calls herself Black, hates Indian side of her family, never recognised herself as an Indian,” said Radhika Sud from Atlanta.
She is unaware of the atrocities of Kashmiri Hindus and has aligned with Pakistan. Indian-Americans won’t vote for pro-Pak, pro-China Harris, just because her mother happens to be Indian, she said.
“I would evaluate her on her past policies towards American Hindus and her future approach towards the community. On the first account, I do not see her having given any significant contribution. As for the future posture of the Biden campaign, I am concerned about the public bias they have shown against the American Hindu minority with their policy pronouncements,” said Utsav Chakrabarti, Executive Director HInduPACT.
Rajiv Verma, a Houston community activist, believes that with Harris as Vice President, the Biden campaign has wilfully forfeited any hopes to get the Indian-American votes as she opposes both removal of Article 370 and passage of the new citizenship amendment act by the Indian parliament.
“Harris’ uninformed comments on Kashmir are interference in another sovereign country’s internal matter and are setting up a dangerous precedent for American politics. The fact that the Democrats have shown no understanding of why India has taken the steps it has, makes me think they are purposely being obtuse,” said Professor Amulya Gurtu from California.
“Harris needs to brush up her knowledge of Indo-US relations, failing which the votes of admiring Indian-Americans are not likely to translate into votes for the blue ticket. The present Indo-US relations with Modi-Trump chemistry is at its peak since centuries and Indo-American voters are happy with that,” said Subhash Razdan, Chairman and Co-Founder of Gandhi Foundation USA, in Atlanta.
“My decision not to support Kamala has nothing whatsoever to do with whether she identifies as Indian or Black. It’s about all the Democrats, including her & Biden, toeing the line for vile Kashmiri terrorists in my ancestral homeland of Kashmir,” said Dr Vasudev Patel, president Federation of Indian-American Association. PTI
Houston: Kamala Harris’ selection as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate has evoked mixed reactions from the influential Indian-Americans, with a majority of them expressing unfavourable opinions about the Indian-American senator’s track record and her stance towards India and the community.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden scripted history on Wednesday by selecting 55-year-old Harris, an Indian-American and an African-American, as his running mate in the election on November 3.
Born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, California Senator Harris, if elected, would be the first woman vice president ever for the country.
While her nomination has filled many aspiring women, particularly young women of colour, with joy across the globe, Harris’ selection has also generated mixed reactions from about 3.9 million Indian-Americans, both Republicans and indecisive voters, who believe she lacks understanding of what she stands for and does not consider herself as a woman of Indian origin.
After talking to various Indian-American groups, they all seem proud but have doubts at large on her handling of various critical issues towards the community and India.
Radha Dixit, the founding member of Indo-American Conservatives of Texas, said, “The Democratic Party’s reliance on ‘Identity politics’ has undermined her campaign because the focus has shifted to her being Indian, Asian, Jamaican, African-American and a woman of colour. Divisions in these communities are now coming to surface. Nowhere did Kamala try to claim her Hindu or Indian heritage but people are thrusting their values on her.”
“If the Democratic Party platform and Kamala Harris’s position on policy issues are the basis for deciding this election as it should be, no conservatives, men or women, will support this ticket,” Dixit said.
Padma Shri awardee Subhash Kak, Regents Professor Emeritus at the prestigious Oklahoma State University is pleased with Harris’ selection but is not happy with her political affiliation.
“But I’m disappointed with her political positions that are not India-friendly and are far to the left on the political spectrum. In this, she appears to be consistent with Joe Biden who has adopted an agenda that does not acknowledge the need for a special relationship between the United States and India,” Kak said.
Aditya Satsangi, founder Americans4Hindus, a SuperPAC organisation that represents the interests of Hindus, strongly believes that Harris is a major deception planned by the Democrats to divide the Indian-American votes.
“She has always claimed to be of African descent rather than Indian and her record as an attorney in California is highly questionable. She has in fact promoted corruption in California,” Satsangi said.
Founder of the ‘Living Planet Foundation’ Kusum Vyas considers Harris’ nomination as refreshing but questions her track record.
“She has solid credentials, but do we need to support a person who is a known critic of India’s Kashmir policy and has a strong leaning towards Pakistan. She has recommended abolishing the legal immigration process and supports illegal immigration which hurts people from countries like India, who come here legally,” Vyas said.
“Harris is a supporter of the anti-India, anti-Hindu brigade, who calls herself Black, hates Indian side of her family, never recognised herself as an Indian,” said Radhika Sud from Atlanta.
“She is unaware of the atrocities of Kashmiri Hindus and has aligned with Pakistan. Indian-Americans won’t vote for pro-Pak, pro-China Harris, just because her mother happens to be an Indian,” she said.
“I would evaluate her on her past policies towards American Hindus and her future approach towards the community. On the first account, I do not see her having given any significant contribution. As for the future posture of the Biden campaign, I am concerned about the public bias they have shown against the American Hindu minority with their policy pronouncements,” said Utsav Chakrabarti, Executive Director HInduPACT.
Rajiv Verma, a Houston community activist, believes that with Harris as Vice President, the Biden campaign has willfully forfeited any hopes to get the Indian-American votes as she opposes both removal of Article 370 and passage of the new citizenship amendment act by the Indian parliament.
“Harris’ uninformed comments on Kashmir are interference in another sovereign country’s internal matter and are setting up a dangerous precedent for American politics. The fact that the Democrats have shown no understanding of why India has taken the steps it has, makes me think they are purposely being obtuse. How is implementing the Constitution of a sovereign nation across the country discriminatory?” asks Professor Amulya Gurtu of Green Bay, California.
“Harris needs to brush up her knowledge of Indo-US relations, failing which the votes of admiring Indian-Americans are not likely to translate into votes for the blue ticket. The present Indo-US relations with Modi-Trump chemistry is at its peak since centuries and Indo-American voters are happy with that,” said Subhash Razdan, Chairman and Co-Founder of Gandhi Foundation USA, in Atlanta.
“My decision not to support Kamala has nothing whatsoever to do with whether she identifies as Indian or Black. It’s about all the Democrats, including her & Biden, toeing the line for vile Kashmiri terrorists in my ancestral homeland of Kashmir,” said Dr Vasudev Patel, president Federation of Indian-American Association.
