Who is Ghazala Hashmi? First India-born Muslim woman to win Lt Governor election in US

Ghazala was also the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Senate from Virgina.

Her website states: “Ghazala Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate.” She is among the American politicians who has openly spoken out against gun violence in the US and has sought stricter rules on such weapons, including a ban on assault rifles

Her other focus areas include working on public education, voting rights, reproductive freedom, pro-environment work, housing, and affordable healthcare access.

Ghazala Hashmi’s Indian connection

Ghazala was born on July 5, 1964, in Hyderabad. She moved to the US with her mother and older brother when she was four years old. Her father was already in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.

Ghazala later went on to earn a BA degree with honours from Georgia Southern University and her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.

Ghazala Hashmi: Husband and children

Ghazala Hashmi married Azhar Rafiq over thirty years ago and they have two daughters — Yasmin and Noor. Her maternal grandfather was an employee of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. She still has family in the city and says that she is very much attached to them.

Ghazala’s top priorities

Ghazala’s top priority as the Lt Governor of Virginia would be reproductive freedom. She advocates the right to abortion and access to contraception.

Another of her priorities is stricter gun laws. This includes safe storage laws, background checks, red flag laws, and ban on assault weapons.

Ghazala Hashmi was inspired to run for office due to US President Donald Trump’s travel ban that prohibited citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries — Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen — from entering the United.