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Home » Blog » Articles » In Pictures: Indians celebrate Kamala Harris’s US election win
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In Pictures: Indians celebrate Kamala Harris’s US election win

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Last updated: November 14, 2020 2:05 pm
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In Pictures: Indians celebrate Kamala Harris’s US election win

Kamala Harris, 56, is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who both immigrated to the US to study.

Source:Aljazeera

Waking up to the news that Kamala Harris had won the race to be the next US vice president, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s home town set off firecrackers, offered prayers and carried placards.

Groups gathered at street corners of the tiny village of Thulasendrapuram, population 350, reading newspapers and chatting about the Democrats’ victory in the United States presidential election before moving to the Hindu temple.

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A woman wrote in coloured powder outside her home: “Congratulations Kamala Harris. Pride of our village. Vanakkam (Greetings) America.”

Most of them had gone to sleep by the time Biden surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency, making Harris the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to be elected vice president.

“For two or three days we kept our fingers crossed while the result was delayed,” said resident Kalidas Vamdayar.

“Now it’s a joyful moment for us. We are enjoying it. We will celebrate with firecrackers, distributing Indian sweets to people and praying in the temple. We will request her to come here. She would have heard our voice and she may come.”

Aulmozhi Sudhakar, a village councillor, said: “Kamala Harris is the daughter of our village. From children to senior citizens, each one of us is awaiting the day she would take oath as the vice president of the US.”

Women in the village, located 350 kilometres (215 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, used bright colours to write “We Wish Kamala Harris Wins” on the ground, alongside a thumbs-up sign.

The lush green village is the hometown of Harris’s maternal grandfather, who moved to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, decades ago.

Inside the temple where people have been holding special prayers, Harris’s name is sculpted into a stone that lists public donations made to the temple in 2014, along with that of her grandfather who gave money decades ago.

Harris’s late mother was also born in India, before moving to the US at the age of 19 to study at the University of California. She married a Jamaican, and they named their daughter Kamala, Sanskrit for “lotus flower”.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet described Harris’s success as path-breaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for her relatives but also for all Indian Americans. “I am confident that the vibrant India-US ties will get even stronger with your support and leadership.”

There has been both excitement – and some concern – over Biden’s choice of Harris as his running mate.

Modi had invested in President Donald Trump, who visited India in February. Modi’s many Hindu nationalist supporters also were upset with Harris when she expressed concern about the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, whose statehood India’s government revoked in August last year.

Harris stood by Pramila Jayapal, another US congresswoman of Indian origin when India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar refused to attend a meeting in the United States over her participation last year. Jayapal had earlier moved a resolution on the Kashmir issue critical of India in the House of Representatives.

Rights groups accuse India of human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir. India has stationed more than half a million soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir to quell an armed rebellion that erupted in 1989. Most Kashmiris want independence from India or a merger with neighbouring Pakistan, whose claims to the picturesque Himalayan region dates back to 1947.

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Indian village women, one holding a placard featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during celebrations for her victory, in Painganadu a neighboring village of Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s hometown are setting off firecrackers, carrying her placards and offering prayers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

 

Arulmozhi Sudhakar, second right, a village councilor gives a thumbs-up as she poses with her family and friends after preparing a Kolam, a traditional art work using colored powder, congratulating U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, in Thulasendrapuram, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. After rooting for Kamala Harris as President-elect Joe Biden running mate, people in her small ancestral Indian village woke up Sunday morning to the news of her making history. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Villagers celebrate the victory of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Painganadu a neighboring village of Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her small ancestral Indian village set off firecrackers, carried her placards and offered prayers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Women carry large plates filled with traditional sweets to be distributed among villagers after special prayers to celebrate the victory of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at a Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s hometown are setting off firecrackers, carrying her placards and offering prayers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
A man wearing a mask as a precaution against the coronavirus reads the Mathrubhumi newspaper that front pages news of President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the U.S. presidential election in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, Nov.8, 2020. The headline in Malayalam language below the photograph of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris reads, “Bye den-bye bye Trump”. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
Artists play Nadaswaram, a wind instrument traditionally played during auspicious occasions as they celebrate the victory of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at Hindu a temple in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s hometown are setting off firecrackers, carrying her placards and offering prayers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Villagers celebrate the victory of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Painganadu a neighboring village of Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s hometown are setting off firecrackers, carrying her placards and offering prayers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
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