If Kamala Harris’ Vice Presidency got Indians flaunting the desi connect, her niece Meena Harris’ advocacy towards the farmers’ protest in India, got right-wing supporters suspicious of an alleged international propaganda to weaken the country.
Soon after singer-actor Rihanna tweeted about the ongoing protest in Delhi-NCR, drawing attention towards the Centre’s attempts at cracking down on the protesters, Meena tweeted, “We all should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters.”
And it took no time for the supporters of the three contentious farm laws to get rattled by the outpouring global support.
While in a surprising move, the MEA put out a statement berating the “sensationalist” comments on the issue which they claim are “neither responsible nor accurate”, out in the streets, members of the Hindu United Front, a fringe right-wing group, gathered to burn Meena, Rihanna and Greta Thunberg’s photos in protest.
But the Ambitious Girl author hit back with a sterner response – “I won’t be intimidated, and I won’t be silenced”.
While some thanked her for highlighting the ongoing movement in the country, others on Twitter urged people to ignore her commentary on the issues, suggesting she’s flexing her powerful connections.
Swarajya and OpIndia – both pro-government media outlets – even went onto publishing articles on how Meena is flaunting her ties with the White House and how that’s a problem.
“Meena Harris, who has a habit of flaunting her ties with United States Vice President Kamala Harris, has now gone to the extent using rabid Islamists and anti-India voices to meddle into Indian affairs”, the article on OpIndia claimed. Although for the record, there’s no proof of her “using rabid Islamists” or “anti-India voices”.
Swarajya’s critical article, on the other hand, referred to an article on Politico about Meena’s business ventures allegedly clashing with the Vice Presidential policies.
Whether Meena’s opinions or political connections have any influence over the US government’s official stance towards the farmers’ protest or not, is still a premature debate, but beyond her familial ties with Madam Vice President, Meena Harris is a force of her own.
Meena’s Political Side, Beyond Kamala
A Harvard-educated lawyer, Meena quit her job to become the founder and CEO of Phenomenal, a women-centric organisation that highlights various social issues and womens’ rights work, over the past year. Apart from working for Kamala’s Vice Presidential campaign, she also published her second children’s book Ambitious Girl during this time.
Meena’s support towards the ongoing farmers’ movement shouldn’t entirely come as a surprise, considering that her Twitter account is almost bubbling with activity.
Ranging from commentaries on America’s race problems, or critique of the former Trump administration, or advocating raising minimum wages, or women’s rights issues – she’s been fairly outspoken about her opinions.
While she certainly is Kamala’s niece, in an interview to The Cut, she’s also made it clear that she’s her own person. At a time when the pro-government faction of the Twitterati are trying to question her motives for extending support to India’s anti-caste movement or the farmers’ protest, perhaps the interview that was published earlier in 18 January sheds some light on her choices.
“There are those moments where it’s like: You don’t get me. You don’t know me. I also come away sometimes being like I don’t have to f****n’ explain myself to people and then there’s a question of like: Are you operating in bad faith? I made the choice to be involved in the campaign, to engage in conversations around political issues. There are some times where I’m like I’m not f*****g Kamala. I’m my own person. I may have different views than she does, and Joe does too by the way,” Meena told The Cut.
Although she has been in the limelight along with her aunt Kamala throughout last year – supporting her, standing by her side, showing behind-the-scenes glimpses from the Harris household – her political side runs deeper than just that.
In 2008, Meena worked on youth-vote organising for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Her mother Maya, who, too, worked for Kamala as her campaign chairwoman, has previously also worked as a senior policy adviser on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Maya and Kamala’s mother and Meena’s grandmother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who has been described as an inspiration to the Harris family, was a biomedical scientist and civil rights activist.
In several interviews, both Meena and Kamala Harris have credited Shyamala Gopalan for imbuing a desire for social change and female empowerment into their family and these ideas get reflected in her recent tweets as well.
Still Standing Strong
Since her tweet on Wednesday, 3 February, the more hate she’s been receiving, the more scathing her criticism has been getting.
As supporters of the Modi government set to sniff out an alleged international “propaganda” with head of BJP IT cell Amit Malviya tweeting, “Is there a concerted global effort to destabilise India from outside? Who gains from destabilising India?” Meena urged people to wake up to the realities of fascism.
Her fearless advocacy has drawn a lot of applause from some Bollywood actors and journalists who have for long been at the receiving end of hate by right-wing groups over their stance on the farmers’ movement.
Despite the mounting pushback against the international attention towards the farmers’ movement, it doesn’t look like Meena Harris is one to back away yet. Unintimidated by hate and threats, she wrote, “I still #StandWithFarmers”.
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