Page 7 - Pakistan Link - September 25, 2020

OPINION
n By Dr Syed Amir
O Bethesda, MD
n August 18, 2020, Ameri-
can women celebrated the
centennial of winning the
right to vote on a par with men.
Of course, they
have since made gi-
ant strides in many
fields, serving at the advisor and directed all her previous
top of many pro-
fessional bodies, in
addition to holding
elective offices. The most recent
symbol of progress was the nomi-
nation by the Democratic Party of
the first black and Asian woman
to the position of vice-president.
Joe Biden, the presidential nomi-
nee, has selected Senator Kamala
Harris, 55 years old, as his running
partner.
Daughter of a Jamaican father
and a South Indian Brahmin moth-
er, she is only the third woman nom-
inee for the second highest office in
the US and will be the first woman
to hold that office should Biden get
elected. Significantly, Joe Biden will
be 81-years old at the completion of
his first term and would be unlikely
to seek a second term. Kamala Har-
ris will be in a strong position to
seek the nomination of the Demo-
cratic Party and to become the first
woman president of the US.
Before becoming a Senator, she
was the Attorney General of Cali-
fornia state, and in that position, she mother gave her exposure to a wide
earned the reputation of a strict law
and order enforcer.
Harris’s appointment has
aroused unusual attention, because
of her uncommon heritage. Her
mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a prom-
inent cancer research scientist, came
from South India to the US in 1960
for higher studies and enrolled at the
University of California, Berkeley,
where she met her husband, Don-
ald Harris, a fellow graduate student
from Jamaica. Both were involved in
the civil rights movement, became
friends, and ultimately were mar-
ried. Unfortunately, the marriage
did not last, and they were divorced
when Kamala was only seven years
old and her younger sister, Maya,
just four. From then on, the mother
took full responsibility for the care
and upbringing of her daughters
with, it seems, little participation on
her ex-husband’s part.
Kamala Harris noted in her
memoir that her mother “was the
one most responsible for shaping
us into the women we would be-
come.” Both sisters are enormously
The Call to Sacrifice and Commitment: The Letters of a WWII Sailor
n By Dr James Thrasher
S Grove City, PA
ince my dad’s passing, I have
carried his dog tag on my key
chain. I wanted a daily re-
minder of my dad and his sacrifi-
cial service to our nation in World
War II. My dad was the classic
WWII vet who did not often speak
of his time in the war. I regret not
asking him more questions.
Personally, I missed the man-
datory draft by a few years, turn-
ing 18 in 1976. But I had two older
friends, the Harris brothers in my
neighborhood, who went to Viet-
nam and never came back. I have
always believed that my generation,
and those to follow, have not had an
appropriate level of appreciation for
all that was put on the line by those
who have served in the military. I
Indian Immigrants Are a Success Story minister. The former prime minis-
proud of their mother and the role
she played in their lives. In contrast, mixed black and Asian heritage, she
their relationship with their father,
now a retired professor of econom-
ics, is cool. Kamala and Maya are ex-
tremely close, and the younger sister
is Kamala’s closest and most trusted
political campaigns.
Kamala’s mother correctly per-
ceived that her daughters, with one
black parent, would always be per-
ceived and treated as blacks in the
US. Therefore, she brought them up
to regard themselves as black Amer-
icans. Yet, she did not sever fam-
ily and cultural ties with India. Dr
Gopalan during summer vacations,
frequently took her daughters there
to meet their relatives and to expose
them to the other half of their heri-
tage. Harris noted, “When I was a
young girl visiting my grandparents
in India, I’d join my grandfather and
his buddies on their morning walk
along the beach as they would talk
about the importance of fighting for
democracy and civil rights.”
Harris’s nomination to vice-
presidential candidacy has gener-
ated some curiosity about her reli-
gious affiliations. She comes from a
family of eclectic faiths. Her Indian
grandparents were Hindu, but her
variety of spiritual experiences, tak-
ing her to both Christian and Hindu
services in the US. She now identi-
fies herself as a Baptist Christian and
took oath of office as a Senator on a
Bible. To add further diversity to her
life, she is now married to Douglas
Emhoff, a Jewish lawyer
When, last year, some reporter
asked Harris how she would de-
know that I have lacked a true ac-
knowledgment of this dedication
and willingness to commit one’s life
to the defense of American free-
dom.
Well, that feeling has been
uniquely confirmed. In the last few
years, we sold my family home,
bringing my mom here to live until
her recent passing. Clearing out the
attic revealed a treasure. To my sur-
prise, my grandmother saved 133
letters written to her by my dad be-
tween June 1943 and October 1945.
These letters were tucked away in
the attic of our house, now to be
found and read by her grandson.
I have no idea if my dad was even
aware of their existence. I have care-
fully opened and read each letter.
These letters reveal the experiences,
fears, feelings, hopes, and dreams
of a sailor. I had no idea regarding
scribe herself in the context of her
responded that she considered her-
self as a proud American, skirting
the direct, awkward question. While
Harris does not emphasize her Indi-
The elevation of
Senator Kamala Harris
is the latest addition
to the growing list
of Americans of
Asian-Indian descent
who have become
prominent and have
established themselves
as important political
figures. There
are currently five
Americans of Indian
decent, all Democrats,
that have been elected
to the Congress.
Besides the US
Congress, many hold
other elective offices
an heritage, the reaction in India, es- gresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, for
pecially her mother’s native State of
Tamil Nadu, on her nomination has
been phenomenal. Her nomina-
tion has been celebrated with con-
gratulatory posters and billboard,
expressing pride in her achieve-
what my dad went through from
boot camp to the news that the war
was over.
Weeks after graduating from
www.PakistanLink.com
SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 – PAKISTAN LINK – P7
ment. The rejoicing was especially
enthusiastic in her ancestral village
of Painganadu in Tamil Nadu.
The elevation of Senator Ka-
mala Harris is the latest addition
to the growing list of Americans
of Asian-Indian descent who have
become prominent and have estab-
lished themselves as important po-
litical figures. There are currently
five Americans of Indian decent, all
Democrats, that have been elected
to the Congress. Besides the US
Congress, many hold other elective
offices. Both Nikki Healy, former
UN ambassador, and Bobby Jindal,
a former Governor of Louisiana,
have Indian immigrant parents. In
addition, there are numerous others
who occupy important leadership
positions in academia, government,
and private industry.
Their family links to India not-
withstanding, it would be a mistake
to assume that all Indian-American
officials support the policies of
current Indian Government. Con-
example, has been especially criti-
cal of India’s brutal policies and sup- usually bring strong attachment to
pression of human rights in Kash-
mir. Last year, the Indian foreign
minister cancelled a meeting with
Congressional leaders when they
discovered that Jayapal was one of
the participants. Vice-presidential
nominee Kamala Harris has also
been a strong exponent of human
rights and pluralistic policies.
In addition to the US, some
Indian immigrants to Canada, Brit-
ain and Europe have been remark-
ably successful. Canadian Prime
Minister Trudeau’s cabinet includes
three Sikhs, and one Hindu female
high school, my dad reported to
boot camp in Camp Peary, Virginia.
He left behind a mother who raised
four children on her own and who
ter of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, is half
Indian, while Britain’s chancellor of
exchequer and potential prime min-
ister, Rishi Sunak, is a Hindu, born
of Punjabi parents. British Home
Secretary, Priti Patel, is the daughter
of Gujrati Hindu parents. She has
close links with the current Modi
Government and his Bhartiya Junta
Party and is known for her hardline
immigrations policies. The socialist
Prime Minister of Portugal, Anto-
nio Costa, is also of Indian descent,
as his parents were born in Goa, a
former Portuguese colony.
The question is often asked
how well the Pakistani immigrants
have done compared with the In-
dians. Undoubtedly, Pakistanis in
America have not been as visible
or ubiquitous as Indians. Currently,
three members of the US Congress
are Muslims, but none of them is
of Pakistani origin-- Andre Carl-
son, Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omer.
However, Pakistanis now are catch-
ing up, breaking out of their favor-
ite professions, such as medicine or
computer technology that prom-
ised security and financial stability.
There may be other reasons for why
Pakistanis lag behind. Pakistanis
their cultural, ideological, and re-
ligious traditions and most of their
attention and money has been fo-
cused on building mosques, Islamic
schools, and cultural centers in their
adopted homeland. However, the
causes of this disparity offers an
interesting project for a Pakistani-
American social scientist.
(Dr Syed Amir is a former As-
sistant Professor, Harvard Medical
School, and a health science admin-
istrator, US National Institutes of
Health)
now had all three sons in the war.
My grandfather was an alcoholic
who left the family shortly after
the fourth child, my dad, was born,
leaving them to fend for themselves.
In going off to war, my dad was very
concerned about my grandmother’s
ability to support herself. He consis-
tently sent home most of his combat
pay to help his mom and the sup-
port of a granddaughter under her
care.
After boot camp, due to his
poor eyesight, he was designated
to a special assignment. He was
assigned to the Seabees Construc-
tion 13th Battalion unit. The Sea-
bees worked very closely with the
Special Operations Forces. Special
Operations Forces would secure an
acquired position and then the Sea-
bees would quickly build airstrips,
LETTERS, P11