The Trailblazing Senator Ghazala Hashmi
By C. Naseer Ahmad
‘Don’t get mad, get even,’ is a proverb popularized by President John Kennedy during a conversation with late Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee. But unfortunately, the desire to get even is not always productive.
When Donald Trump lit the fires of bigotry and Islamophobia, Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Richmond – who had received multiple awards and medals for scholarship, teaching, and multicultural enrichment - Ghazala Hashmi thought it was time to get involved. She became involved in electoral politics and unseated a republican. She became part of the blue wave that handed the control of Virginia’s government over to the Democrats and was elected as the first Muslim State Senator.
“ On a cold February morning in 2017, I pulled into the parking lot of the community college where I had spent the last 15 years as a professor and administrator. I could not get out of my car. For the first time in my life, I was overwhelmed by a panic attack,” wrote Senator Hashmi in an article “ Ghazala Hashmi is an American name” in Medium on April 30, 2019. “It was at that moment, sitting in my minivan, that I realized I had a choice. I could remain unheard, unseen, and unrepresented; or, I could speak out, be visible, and dare to claim for myself and other marginalized communities the right to full participation in our democracy” she continued in that article.
Senator Hashmi is the daughter of late Professor Zia Hasan Hashmi who was a trailblazer in his own right. After graduating from Osmania University and Aligarh University, Professor Hashmi taught briefly at Karachi University before immigrating to US. He became the first student to earn a PhD in International Relations from the University of South Carolina. Soon after his graduation, he became a pioneer and established a leadership position in promoting education in international relations in Georgia and Southeastern United States. His children have excelled in their own fields of expertise, building upon Professor Hashmi’s legacy.
As a legislator, Senator Hashmi plays a pivotal role in a number of areas. She chairs the Virginia Senate’s Subcommittee on Public Education, a cause Senator Hashmi champions fearlessly. Senator Hashmi is serving as the Treasurer, Senate Democratic Caucus and Vice-Chair, Virginia Asian American Pacific Islanders Caucus. She is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. For example, Senator Hashmi received the 2023 Virginia Counselors Association Legislator of the Year award and in 2021 the Aligarh University Sir Syed Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Virginia has made necessary climate action progress, but our work is just beginning. Climate change does not recognize state or national borders, and so we need determined leadership at the federal level,” wrote Senator Hashmi in a Washington Post opinion piece. She has engaged leaders at all levels on issues that matter to the average citizen. “Mountain Valley Pipeline is unjust and our state board must deny new permits,” urged Senator Hashmi in another article published on November 25, 2021 in the Richmond Times Dispatch, her hometown newspaper.
Gun violence is a concern for everyone, in the wake of an epidemic of mass shootings in America and Senator Hashmi has not only been vocal on this issue but also helped deliver legislation through Virginia’s legislature to address this issue.
Accessibility is important for an elected official to effectively represent one’s constituents. If the constituents cannot reach a senator or any member of the legislature, then the constituents feel disrespected and withhold support. Senator Hashmi welcomes any contact with her constituents and invites them to shadow her when the legislature is in session.
Humility is a hallmark of greatness. Senator Hashmi was attending a seminar on public health issues and related topics at the George Washington University Law School in Washington DC recently. She met with the author for a discussion after the conference at the Paul Bakery nearby.
From this discussion, one learns about her focus – which is enabled by her husband Dr Azhar Rafiq, with his own story of success as Director, Medical Informatics at NASA Headquarters - and tenacity in fighting for what is important for the community and her constituents. She is busy working with leaders at all levels: federal, state, and local – and she is delivering results, which is something that will make her family, the community, and her late father in heaven proud.
