Indian-origin Ghazala Hashmi wins Virginia Lieutenant Governor election
New York(PTI): India-born American politician Ghazala Hashmi has been elected as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, becoming the first Muslim and South Asian American to be elected to the top political post in the state.
Hashmi, 61, a Democrat secured 1,465,634 votes (54.2 per cent), way ahead of her Republican rival John Reid, who secured 1,232,242 votes, with 79 per cent of the votes in.
The Virginia State Senator, who emerged victorious on Election Day Tuesday, was among the over 30 Indian-Americans and South Asian candidates running for office for key nationwide positions in the 2025 elections.
Hashmi’s election was among the most-closely watched as she was in the fray for the top state post.
Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate.
“As an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice, her legislative priorities include public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing and affordable healthcare access,” her official profile said.
Community organisation The Indian American Impact Fund congratulated Hashmi on her historic victory in the General Election for Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor.
As part of its commitment to electing barrier-breaking leaders, Impact said it had invested USD 175,000 in Hashmi’s campaign to mobilise voters and strengthen representation at every level of government.
Executive Director of the Indian American Impact Fund Chintan Patel described Hashmi’s victory as a landmark moment for the community, Commonwealth and democracy.
“An immigrant, educator and tireless advocate, she has dedicated her life to expanding opportunity and delivering results for working families across Virginia. From reproductive freedom and affordable healthcare to public education and housing equity, Ghazala Hashmi has led on the issues that matter most to Virginians,” Patel said.
Hashmi was first elected to office in November 2019, upsetting the Republican incumbent and delivering the majority to Democrats for the first time in years and shocking the political establishment.
Indian American Impact Fund noted that Hashmi had made history in 2019 with her victory, flipping the Republican-held seat to help Democrats take control of the State Senate.
“Tonight she’s made history again as Virginia’s first South Asian American and Muslim Lieutenant Governor. Impact was proud to support her from the very beginning because we knew what was at stake: protecting our rights, defending our communities from MAGA extremism, and expanding opportunity for all who call Virginia home.”
In 2024, Hashmi was named Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee. As a state Senator, Ghazala has dedicated her efforts to improving the lives of others, focusing on issues of inequity in housing, education, health care, environmental justice and much more.
Hashmi was four years old when she emigrated to the US with her mother and older brother from India, joining her father in Georgia where he was pursuing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.
She grew up in that small college town, at a time when public schools were being desegregated, and so she saw firsthand how communities can be built and dialogue promoted through intentional efforts to bridge cultural, racial, and socioeconomic divides, her campaign said.
After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and receiving multiple full scholarships and fellowships, Hashmi earned a BA with honours from Georgia Southern University and her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
Hashmi and her husband, Azhar, moved as newlyweds to the Richmond area in 1991, and she spent nearly 30 years as a professor, first teaching at the University of Richmond and then at Reynolds Community College.
While at Reynolds, she also served as the Founding Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
