India celebrates ‘historic’ Kamala Harris VP pick
Indians and the Indian Diaspora celebrated the news that Joe Biden has selected Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential candidate.
Ms Harris, whose mother was Indian and father is Jamaican, becomes both the first black American and the first person of south Asian descent to be named as either a Republican or Democratic running mate. She is also only the fourth woman in history on a major party’s presidential ticket.
The Biden campaign’s announcement dominated headlines in the Indian media, with the Indian Express saying Ms Harris had “made history” already.
The TV station CNN News18 noted that Ms Harris “loves idlis and sambhar”, two staples of southern
Indian cuisine. Ms Harris’s mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, grew up in the southern Tamil Nadu state before moving to the US to study endocrinology.
And The Hindu, as well as noting Ms Harris to be “the first woman of Indian descent” on a presidential ticket, described her foremost as a “supporter of green card reform”. Ms Harris has previously said she would do away with US immigration quotas by country, a move which would be hugely popular among Indians aspiring to move to America for work.
Speaking to the Press Trust of India, the founder of US-based Indiaspora, M R Rangaswami, called it “an electric moment for the Indian-American community”.
“Indian-Americans are now truly a mainstream community in the national fabric,” he said. “On a personal note, it’s great to have a woman on the ticket whose mother hails from my hometown of Chennai in India.”
Endorsements for Ms Harris came from across the spectrum of politics, entertainment and the general public in India – not to mention from members of her own family.
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who is married to the American singer-songwriter Nick Jonas, wrote on Instagram: “This is a historical, transformational, and proud moment for all women. All women of colour, all Black women, and all south Asian women.
“Congratulations [Kamala Harris] on becoming the first Black woman and FIRST PERSON of Indian descent to compete on a major US party’s presidential ticket,” she wrote, adding: “PS: To my younger self – look how far we have come!”
Ram Madhav, the national general secretary of Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party, hailed Ms Harris as the “first Indian and Asian woman to get the nomination as official VP candidate”, adding a thumbs up. The BJP has courted close ties with Donald Trump during his tenure, inviting him to open the world’s largest cricket stadium alongside Mr Modi in February.
Rana Safvi, a Delhi-based historian, wrote on Twitter: “My timeline is full of Kamala Harris and I wish her the best. Just hope those celebrating her as part Indian aren’t the ones who abuse Sonia [Gandhi] for her Italian lineage and Rahul [Gandhi, her son] for his maternal lineage.”
Shishir Prashant, a journalist, said Ms Harris’s story was inspiring for all immigrants. “It’s pretty amazing that foreigners can travel to US, marry, have a child, and their daughter can become VP,” he tweeted.
And Gopalan Balachandran, an uncle to Ms Harris on her mother’s side, told reporters: “It is a historic day for the Indian community.
“Our family feels happy,” he said. “My sister, her mother, would have been very proud of her daughter.”
Ms Harris’s selection has not been met with universal celebration in India, however, on account of her recent comments in support of the Kashmiri people who had their statehood and special constitutional autonomy stripped by the Modi administration last August.
Some government supporters – who are often particularly vocal on Indian Twitter – criticised Ms Harris yesterday as being a backer of “Kashmiri militants”, or for “self-identifying as black, not Indian”.
“Please can you remember what will her stance on India will be if she wins. It’s much more important than celebrating her Indian roots,” wrote Rohit Gajaria.
Mr Biden announced his plan to name a woman as his vice president in March, and is said to have considered a range of names including his Democratic primary rival Elizabeth Warren, the former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and the California representative Karen Bass.
In Ms Harris, he has found a single candidate who he hopes will appeal to both the black and Indian
communities in the US.
Last month the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Thomas Perez, spoke of how important Indian-American voters could be in the November election.
He referenced the fact that there are 125,000 such voters in Michigan alone – adding “We lost Michigan by 10,700 votes in 2016”.
He told a virtual event titled Indian Americans for Biden: “In Pennsylvania, [there are] 156,000 [IndianAmerican voters]. We lost Pennsylvania by 42-43,000. In Wisconsin, there are 37,000. We lost Wisconsin by 21,000 in 2016.
“The Indian-American vote, the AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islanders) vote more broadly, can be an absolute difference maker,” Perez said.