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“As a young girl visiting my grandparents in India, my grandfather took me on his morning walks, where he would discuss the importance of fighting for equality and fighting corruption. He was a retired civil servant who had been part of the movement to win India’s independence.
“My grandmother traveled across India—bullhorn in hand—to speak with women about accessing birth control.
“Their commitment to public service and fight for a better future live on in me today.
“Happy National Grandparents Day to all the grandparents who help shape and inspire the next generation,” the post read.
Social media users from India objected to the claim and pointed out that her grandfather was in the British Imperial Secretariat Service which became the Central Secretariat Service after Independence. “How could a serving bureaucrat be part of the independence movement opposing the same government and violating service rules?” one user wrote. “Everything you say is a lie,” another said.
This is not the first time that Kamala Harris mentioned that her grandfather PV Gopalan was one of the “original independence fighters in India”. But according to records, Gopalan was born in 1911 and was a diligent civil servant. Gopalan’s son, Kamala Harris’ uncle G Balachandran said that had his father openly advocated ending British rule, he could have been fired.
Gopalan was born in Painganadu near the Madras presidency in 1911. He joined the Indian civil services and also served in Zambia, where he was assigned to manage an influx of refugees.
While Kamala Harris’ Indian roots are much discussed, reports surfaced Sunday that Kamala Harris would be meeting Congress leader from India DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka. But Shivakumar dismissed the rumors of his meeting with Harris and Barack Obama and said he is travelling to the US on a personal visit.
