"America Mein Khila Kamal": Indian-Americans Celebrate Kamala Harris's Selection

News Network
August 12, 2020

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Washington, Aug 12: Leading Indian-American groups and individuals, including former Pepsico chief Indra Nooyi, have hailed the nomination of Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, saying it was a "great choice" and a "moment of pride" for the entire community in the US.

However, there were also some community members who questioned Ms Harris's contribution towards the Indo-US ties and said they would not be swayed by identity politics.

Presumptive Democratic party Presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday named 55-year-old Kamala Harris as his Vice Presidential running mate, making history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party's Presidential ticket.

Kamala Harris, whose father is an African from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is currently the US Senator from California.

"This is a great choice for our country," tweeted Ms Nooyi, who is seen as a role model by millions of women across the world.

Kamala Harris herself was a presidential aspirant until last year before she dropped out of the race because of lack of popular support.

"What an electric moment for the Indian-American community! Indian-Americans are now truly a mainstream community in the national fabric," MR Rangaswami, an eminent Indian-American and the founder of Indiaspora, told news agency PTI.

Welcoming the decision, IMPACT, a leading Indian-American advocacy group and a Political Action Committee, said it will raise USD 10 million for the campaign.

"Kamala Harris's story is the story of a changing, inclusive America...Her candidacy is historic and inspiring, not only for Black Americans, but for millions of Asian American voters, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country," IMPACT's executive director Neil Makhija said.

Kamala Harris's supporters on Tuesday announced to launch a nationwide campaign "America mein Khila Kamal (Lotus blooms in the US)".

California-based Indian-American entrepreneur Ajay Bhutoria told news agency PTI that he is planning to release graphic and social media posts around this slogan in the run up to the November 3 presidential elections.

Mr Bhutoria is also the creator of a multi-language campaign, including in Hindi, which says, "America Ka Neta Kaisa Ho, Jo Biden Jaisa Ho!! (How America''s leader should be, like Biden)", as part of the efforts to reach to the Indian-American community.

According to Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden, Harris has fought for justice throughout her time in public service, which makes her an "uniquely inspired choice" to take on Trump and the Republicans.

Kamala Harris's selection to serve in the second-highest office in the US is a signal that the community is an important part of the American fabric, said Deepa Sharma, national communications co-chair for South Asians for Biden.

The Indo-American Democratic Organisation, one of the oldest South Asian American political advocacy bodies in the US, noted that a "Biden-Harris administration will prioritise the needs and challenges faced by immigrants".

Ms Harris will build stronger US-India relations, said Rajendra Dichpally from US India Security Council.

However, not all Indian-Americans were happy with Kamala Harris's nomination.

"Yes, there will be initial excitement and confusion for a few weeks amongst the Indian Americans - debating whether to vote for Biden due to Kamala Harris being of Indian Heritage or voting for Trump, who has been great for India-US relations. There is and there will be a lot of hustling by the Biden-Harris combo for the Indian-American votes in the battleground states," Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee, told news agency PTI.

However, after initial few weeks of excitement, Indian-Americans would continue to support Trump because of his "impeccable track record" when it comes to Indo-US ties and promises fulfilled to the community, he asserted.

Al Mason questioned what Biden and Harris have done for India? And went on to add, "Zero. Future promises by them - after being elected - mean nothing."

According to a recent survey conducted by Al Mason, 50 per cent of the Indian-Americans in key battleground states like Texas, Michigan, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania who traditionally vote for Democrats, are now switching over to the Trump camp.

Prominent physician Dr Deepak Nandi said Ms Harris's selection as vice presidential candidate will have minimal effects on the Indian-American electoral votes as Trump has done so much for the community by supporting their entrepreneurial efforts and ease of doing business in the US.

According to Sridhar Chillara, founder and chairman of the Asian American Republican Alliance, Indian-Americans will vote "with eyes wide open" in the presidential election and "reject the game of hypocrisy and identity politics played by the Democrats".

Acknowledging that Ms Harris's nomination will excite many community members, as this is the closest the community has come to the Oval Office, Indian-Americans for Trump in a statement said, however, there is a lot of opposition to her.

"Until she was contesting for the President, during the Democratic primary season, she had not associated herself with the Indian-American population. That is why, at a debate podium, questions were raised to her about her being of Indian heritage and hiding it. That opened this issue for her," it said in a statement.

Indian-American physician Dr Raj Bhayani said historically, selection of vice president candidates has had no effect on the outcome of the presidential race.

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News Network
March 25,2024

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A teenager who led over 100 people to safety during Friday’s terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall, has been hailed as a hero. 15-year-old Islam Khalilov, who worked part-time in one of the cloakrooms at Crocus City, recounted the events of the tragic evening to the Ruptly video agency.

The concert venue situated just outside of Moscow was packed ahead of a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic, when a group of terrorists armed with assault rifles forced their way into the building. They fired indiscriminately at fleeing people and then set the concert hall on fire.

According to the latest estimates, the attack has claimed the lives of at least 137 people, with about 180 injured.

Khalilov told the video agency that “it was when people started running from the escalator, from the stairway” that he realized that an emergency was occurring. The teenager said that he was acting on “instincts” at the time and used his thorough knowledge of the premises to quickly arrange visitors’ evacuation toward another building within the Crocus City complex.

“I started shouting all across the foyer, all across Crocus City Hall - ‘Folks, there’s a shooting! All run to the expo!’ – and I was showing where they had to go and was helping everyone,” he explained.

According to the cloakroom attendant, “there was a stampede, and everyone was in shock at first. No one knew what to do and where to go.”

Khalilov added that he himself was running behind the entire group to make sure he had not left anyone behind.

The teenager admitted to being “really scared” all along, but still managed to make the right use the instructions he’d previously been given on how to evacuate patrons in case of an emergency.

He told Ruptly that, at one point, he had caught a glimpse of one of the terrorists.

“I saw one, [he was] bearded and in green fatigues, he was walking around with an assault rifle,” the teenager recounted.

He also recalled seeing a man getting fatally shot by one of the assailants, adding that he “can’t stop thinking about it.”

The 15-year-old said he doesn’t consider himself a hero, and that he was just doing his job.

Explaining what helped him overcome fear, Khalilov reasoned that “It’s better to sacrifice yourself than to let a hundred people die.”

After Khalilov’s feat had been reported-on by several Russian media outlets, his favorite football club, FC Spartak Moscow, invited him to a meeting where he was presented with free passes to their matches.

Popular Russian rap artist Morgenstern said he had transferred 1,000,000 rubles ($11,000) to the teenager – something that Khalilov has confirmed to media.

The leader of Russia's Muslims, Mufti Ravil Guynutdin, has announced that Khalilov would receive a medal for his bravery.

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News Network
March 28,2024

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Russia says it is "extremely hard to believe" that Daesh could have staged the recent hugely deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall that the country's intelligence and security officials have blamed on Ukraine and its Western backers.

Four gunmen burst into the Russian capital's Crocus City Hall on Friday and began shooting at the people, who were attending an event. The Takfiri terrorist group has allegedly claimed responsibility for the massacre that killed at least 143.

Speaking on Wednesday, however, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cast that claim into serious doubt.

"In order to ward off suspicions from the collective West, they urgently needed to come up with something, so they resorted to ISIS (Daesh), pulled an ace out of their sleeve, and literally a few hours after the terrorist attack, the Anglo-Saxon media began disseminating precisely these versions," she said.

The chief of the Russian internal intelligence (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov has suggested that not only Ukraine, but also the United States and Britain might have been behind the shooting.

The Russian Federal Security Service has also said the gunmen planned to travel to Ukraine, where they were to be welcomed as "heroes." The FSB said Western intelligence services aided the attackers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also suggested that Ukraine stood to derive benefit from the attack and that Kiev might have played a role.

He has said that someone on the Ukrainian side had prepared a "window" for the gunmen to escape across the border before they were captured in western Russia on Friday night.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a landslide victory in the just-concluded presidential polls, securing him a fifth term in power. While Putin hailed the results as an indication of "trust" and "hope" in him, critics panned the polls for its preordained nature.

As early results poured in, Putin won 87.8% of the vote, the highest-ever result in Russia's post-Soviet history, Reuters quoted Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) exit polls. The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) put Putin on 87%. 

If he completes the term, the 71-year-old President will also script history as Russia's longest-serving leader for more than 200 years, overtaking Josef Stalin. 

While Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov finished second with just under 4%, newcomer Vladislav Davankov third, and ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky fourth, partial results suggested.

In his victory speech, Putin said he would prioritise resolving tasks associated with Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine and would strengthen the Russian military. 

"We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated - no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us - nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future," said Putin. He was welcomed by his supporters to the stage with "Putin Putin" chants. He also hailed the results as an indication of "trust" and "hope" in him.

Later, while interacting with reporters, Putin also warned the West that a direct conflict between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three but said hardly anyone wanted such a scenario. "It is clear to everyone, that this will be one step away from a full-scale World War Three. I think hardly anyone is interested in this," Putin told reporters after winning the biggest-ever landslide in post-Soviet Russian history.

Meanwhile, the Western world condemned the elections, stating the polls were neither free nor fair. While Germany called it a "pseudo-election" under an authoritarian ruler reliant on censorship, repression and violence, UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron condemned "the illegal holding of elections on Ukrainian territory".

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "The Russian dictator is simulating another election".

Earlier during the elections, heeding an opposition call to protest, hundreds of  Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon Sunday, on the last day of the elections. The associates of Alexei Navalny, the critic of Putin who died earlier this month in an Arctic prison, had urged people who were unhappy with Putin or the war in Ukraine to go to the polls at noon on Sunday. Many turned up and lines outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.

Among those heeding the call was Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, who joined a long line in Berlin. She later told reporters that she cast her vote and wrote her late husband's name on the ballot.  Asked whether she had a message for Putin, Navalnaya replied: "Please stop asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr. Putin. There could be no negotiations and nothing with Mr. Putin, because he's a killer, he's a gangster."

One woman in Moscow, who said her name was Yulia, told the AP that she was voting for the first time. "Even if my vote doesn't change anything, my conscience will be clear ... for the future that I want to see for our country," she said. Like others, she didn't give her full name because of security concerns.

Another Moscow voter, who also identified himself only by his first name, Vadim, said he hoped for change, but added that "unfortunately, it's unlikely".

More acts of rebellion were reported on Saturday too. Cases were filed against at least 15 people for pouring dye in ballot boxes, started fires or lobbing Molotov cocktails at polling stations. Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russia’s CEC, said 29 polling stations across 20 regions in Russia were targeted, including eight arson attempts.

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