Issue Brief on “Ensuring Rights for All: Kamala Harris and Hope for Kashmir”

1961

Many Indians cherished the heritage of Kamala Harris after her election victory.[1] Being born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, [2] Kamala is the first person of Asian descent to climb this far in US echelons of political power. People across the globe are closely monitoring the new developments in the Oval office. In this milieu, analyzing the new US administration’s policies on Indian Occupied Kashmir becomes pertinent with particular reference to Kamala Harris and her career as a defender of human rights.  

While the Trump administration had a blatant disregard for the human rights violations in Kashmir, President Biden has been critical of India’s activities. Joe Biden’s Agenda for Muslim American communities clearly states that “in Kashmir, the Indian government should take all necessary steps to restore rights for all the people of Kashmir.”[3] It further highlights Joe Biden’s disappointment over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passage into law. It states that “these measures are inconsistent with the country’s (India’s) long tradition of secularism and with sustaining a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy.”[4]

Read More