Men in Blue: Salman Rushdie Headlines South Asian Men for Harris’s Call to Elect First Woman President
- Held on the heels for similar events organized by the Black and South Asian communities, the virtual event was attended by lawmakers, representatives from South Asian American groups, celebrities, and politically engaged men and allies.
Renowned author Salman Rushdie endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, and extended his full support to elect the first woman president of the United States. “It’s a critical moment, the “boy from Bombay,” said, noting that it’s “great to see an Indian woman running for the White House.” His wife, poet, novelist, photographer, and visual artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, is African American, “so we like the fact that a Black and Indian woman is running for the White House,” he added.
Rushdie was speaking at a “South Asian Men for Harris” call on July 27, calling men and women to rally, fundraise, and get out to vote for Harris. The call was organized by Sree Srinivasan, founder and current president of the South Asian Journalists Association, and CEO and co-founder of full-service digital agency Digimentors; historian Manu Bhagavan; and social media consultant Neil Parekh, vice president of Events & Communication at Digimentors. The call featured elected lawmakers, representatives from various South Asian American groups, community organizers, celebrities, and politically engaged men, and allies.
Some of the attendees and panelists included Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), North Carolina State Sen. Jay Chaudhari, Pennsylvania State Rep. Arvind Venkat; Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval; Gautam Raghavan, director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO); New York City Councilman Shekar Krishnan; Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija; entrepreneur Nihal Mehta, actor Aasif Mandvi; writer and attorney Wajahat Ali; former Kansas State Rep. Raj Goyle, and Harini Krishnan and Neha Dewan, co-national directors of South Asians for Harris, among others.
Rep. Krishnamoorthi emphasized the importance of the election. “Our freedoms are on the line,” he told the attendees, adding that “in Kamala Harris, we see a future-forward.” Contrast that to the other side, where there is “a man wanting to settle past grievances,” he added. Rep. Khanna, said Harris, who played key role in the central pieces of legislation of the Biden-Harris administration is “going to offer real solutions to the economic anxiety many Americans are facing.” Mandvi, meanwhile, called for Harris to advocate for an arms embargo on Israel.
The call was held on the success of similar events organized by the African American and the South Asian American community, since Joe Biden announced he’s not running for re-election, and endorsed Harris. On July 24, over 9,0000 South Asian women joined a call to mobilize support for Harris. Billed as “South Asian Women for Harris,” it raised more than $280,000 for the Harris campaign. It was a historic showing of solidarity for Harris from the Indian American community which makes up just over 1% of the U.S. population.
In the past week, the Harris campaign had raised over $200 million in just six days, with more than two-thirds of the contributions coming from first-time donors, according to her campaign.