WASHINGTON: The US Vice-President Kamala Harris remembered her maternal grandfather PV Gopalan and visited his family house in Zambia’s capital Lusaka where he lived as an Indian Foreign Service official in the 1960s during her trip to the African country.
Born in Chennai in 1911, Gopalan was adviser to the first President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, and served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the 1960s.
“My visit to Zambia has a special significance for me, as many of you know, and for my family. As you know, I visited Zambia, Mr President, as a young girl when my grandfather worked here,” Harris told the media in Lusaka at a joint press conference with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
“In 1966, shortly after Zambia’s independence, he came to Lusaka to serve as Director of Relief Measures and Refugees.That was his title. He served as adviser to Zambia’s first President and he was an expert on refugee resettlement,” she said.
She said she spoke to her aunt recently who reminded her of the relationships she made while working at a hospital in Lusaka. “So, from my family and from all of us, we extend our greetings and hello to everyone here,” Harris added. Gopalan was deputed to the government of Zambia as Director of Relief Measures and Refugees in January 1966 by the Indian Government.
To perform these duties, he relinquished his role as Head of the Office of the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Rehabilitation. He resumed charge of the Office of the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Rehabilitation in July 1969, on reversion from the government of Zambia. He helped Zambia manage an influx of refugees from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
After much effort, the US embassy in Lusaka, while working with the Vice-President’s office, located the spot they believe Gopalan lived. It was the land where his house was, not the structure which is no longer there, the White House official said.