State of Affairs - The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
As a matter of choice, it’s always better to refrain from any opinion on the election process or candidates in the fray in foreign countries, to preserve our neutrality regarding the electoral process of another sovereign nation.
The issue of Kamala Harris; a politician of USA who has been selected by the local Democratic party as their Vice-Presidential candidate for the 2020 election has generated interest in some quarters of Indian citizens who are of the opinion that, Harris as an Indian-American “órigin” candidate, if she wins, will be in a position to influence better relations between India and USA.
So, who is this Kamala Harris? Kamala was born in California to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. A professional lawyer, she started her career as a prosecutor for a local county (district), and succeeded to becoming the first female district attorney of San Francisco and in 2010, was elected as the State of California’s first female attorney general, a position to which she was re-elected in 2014.
Harris is a Senator representing California since 2017. In the Senate, she is a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on the Judiciary.
As a U.S. Senator, Kamala Harris has spoken publicly against the revocation of Article 370 from Kashmir. In October 2019, she stated as follows:”We have to remind the Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping a track on the situation. There is a need to intervene if the situation demands.” The last sentence reeks of the political arrogance that most American law-makers think as their undisputed prerogative, interference in the matters of another nation.
She further went on to criticize the decision of India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar on his refusal to meet another U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal when he was visiting the USA. (For the uninitiated, Pramila Jayapal is a Chennai-born,naturalized citizen who was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party and a avowed leftist in her political views). The reason for this refusal from the Minister was the political resolution H.Res.745 of December 6, 2019; introduced by Jayapal, “urging the Republic of India to end the restrictions on communications and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible and preserve religious freedom for all residents”. In this resolution Jayapal has blatantly lied on two counts, the first being that there were mass detentions in Kashmir (which there weren’t) and the second being that freedom of religion was curtailed (which it wasn’t). Surely, Kamala Harris is not a novice who cannot differentiate facts from blatant lies; yet she did not hesitate to support her fellow member of the Democratic party; thereby supporting the lies against India in the United States highest chambers of politics, the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate.
Also, her partner in the coming U.S. Presidential election Joe Biden has publicly criticized the Indian Citizens Amendment Act (CAA), stating on March 12 that ”In Kashmir, the Indian government should take all necessary steps to restore rights for all the people of Kashmir. Restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests, or shutting down or slowing down the internet, weaken democracy”. This lie is a part of Biden’s agenda (published on Biden’s own campaign website) for keeping the Muslim-American communities happy and to gain their support in the forthcoming elections. So, basically Biden is not averse to public lies in an effort to attract the Muslim vote while interfering in the internal policies of a sovereign democratic nation. And now, Kamala Harris is a full partner in this wicked activity.
Till her being nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate to the forth-coming elections she has defined herself as a “black person” (referring more to her paternal Jamaican heritage) and has not said much about her maternal Indian heritage. Now, of course; the main stream media is pushing across the agenda of her “Indian” heritage, maybe in an effort to attract American voters of Indian origin.
There is no real reason for Indians outside the USA to celebrate anything about Kamala Harris or have favorable expectations from her regarding India - U.S. relationships if she and Biden win the Presidency of the United States. As Indian citizens of the Republic of India, we have no power of influence over elections in America, and nor should we try to assert any influence.
Whatever are the results of the elections to the positions of the President and Vice-President of the U.S, we should always focus on the priorities of our own Nation and the benefits of our own country.
Originally published in RITAM app ....
