RITU JHA
Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic Party candidate for Vice President of the United States has thrown the Indian-American community into raptures.
In conversation with indica News, community leaders and personalities all praised Harris as the right choice in a difficult moment in American history.
“A truly historic moment, deserving of the gravity of the moment of a democracy in peril,” is how Kavita Tankha, vice mayor of Los Altos Hills, California, described it. (Tankha is seen with her family and Harris in the photograph on top)
Tankha, a Democrat who was on the national finance committee of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, was excited after watching Harris’s speech.
She recalled hosting Harris at home when she ran for California Attorney General.
“Even then we thought of her as presidential. Even then she had the gravitas, the fire, and the credentials,” Tankha said.
Harris, she said, is “someone who can lead us in this moment of crisis.”
Vinita Gupta, founder and chairman of Digital Link Corporation and the first Indian-American woman to take her company public in the US, said Harris’s “demeanor to serve struck a chord with me.”
“We need politicians who are not hubris but humble and she definitely came across that way. Her multicultural upbringing makes her thinking rich. She was raised by an Indian immigrant mother but sent to black schools and churches — a super advanced thinking mother,” Gupta said.
“She furthers the ball for women and girls in the US, who aspire to be leaders. She is a good VP choice,” she added.
Ajay Bhutoria, who serves on the national finance committee of Biden for President 2020 and is on the Biden campaign’s Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) national leadership council, was equally exuberant.
“Nomination of Kamala Harris as the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party is truly a historic moment for Indian Americans. It gives the community great pride and joy to be able to witness this important a moment in history,” he said.
“No matter where your parents come from , no matter what race, the religion you belong to , if you work hard and have the right values and character you can rise to become the Vice President and one day President of United States,” he added.
“Everything is possible for people who work hard in this country. Merit is rewarded. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have the experience and leadership to lead us out of the economic and healthcare crisis the Trump administration has burdened us with. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the right partners who will move America forward and bring India and US closer.”
Under their leadership, Bhutoria said, “India-US relations will be stronger together.”
Amar Shergill, the first South Asian American to lead the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, had huge expectations from Harris — someone he holds a few grudges against.
“Senator Harris has always been a good campaigner and knows how to deliver an inspiring speech, Shergill said. “Vice President Biden needed her energy on the ticket and she will be an asset prosecuting the case against Trump.”
Shergill, however, added: “ Although Senator Harris owes the Sikh community an apology for her discriminatory acts as California Attorney General, she and Vice President Biden are a vast improvement over Trump and his record of bigotry, misogyny, and divisiveness.”
He said he was confident that progressives across the nation would vote to elect Biden and Harris, and would “also be challenging them to enact policies that put American families ahead of corporate profits.”
“Vice President Biden and Senator Harris are to be congratulated for advocating on behalf of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. However, they have not said enough about the ongoing campaign of rape, torture, murder, and oppression by Modi and his allies in the BJP/RSS cabal,” Shergill said.
ALSO SEE
https://indicanews.com/2020/08/20/kamala-harris-makes-history-with-rousing-speech/
