Above: detail from a poster being circulated by “Hindus4Trump”.
Humour
Trump a Reincarnation of Vishnu?
True To Form, Hindus in America Have Proclaimed the Republican Pariah a Hindu God
ADRIJA BOSE
Do you belong to the species of humans who have John Oliver's latest video that calls Donald Trump 'America's black mole' bookmarked? And you react to a piece of Trump news the way you usually react to quarrels inside the ‘Big Boss’ house?
If you are one who considers Donald Trump nothing more than the best comic relief in your times, you will be surprised to know that not everyone shares your utter disregard for him.
A group of people in America, all Hindus, are fighting hard to ensure Trump becomes the next President to 'make America great again'. Going by the handle @USAHindus4Trump, they have started a hashtag called #HindusForTrump, explaining why they are supporting him.
The Hindus4Trump group has quite a creative (read strange) poster for the Republican presidential front-runner too. Here, Trump is seen sitting in a Yoga posture, on something that vaguely resembles a lotus with petals in colours of the American flag. Embossed on it is an 'Om' symbol.
Obviously, these intrepid 'Hindus' were not very worried about their revered deities - which include heavyweights like Brahma and Vishnu, Saraswati and Lakshmi - having a meltdown over Trump taking their place in the display picture.
The group has a Facebook page too, where they list out all the ‘achievements’ of Trump.
In a blog post, the Hindus4Trump group have also listed what they call 'evidence that USA Hindus are supporting Trump'.
"Is there any evidence that this growing demographic is organizing to support Trump?” asks the blog and then answers: “Yes! And this support is coming from some of the most influential and widely respected names within the Hindu community."
A mere 6 weeks ago, on January 21, 2016, four Hindus from India launched the political action committee (PAC) "Indian-Americans For Trump 2016". The group says that this is an evidence that 'Hindus' are supporting Trump.
The PAC is aimed at garnering support for Trump among the Hindus.
“On realising that the agenda of Donald J Trump for President 2016 is focused on reviving the American economy, rightly bringing America on the world stage, defeating terrorism and establishing peace through strength; many [of us] believe that he is the best hope for America and the right candidate to be the next president of the United States,” the PAC said in a statement.
A D Amar, a business professor with Seton Hall University in New Jersey is its president while New York-based attorney Anand Ahuja is its vice president. Amar believes that Trump is the best for the United States and Hindus.
The reason? "Mr. Trump’s policies on illegal immigration and economy in particular are the main reasons … to support him," he said.
The other members include Dr. Sudhir Parikh. Pathak is the owner of Parikh World Media, an umbrella corporation which houses news outlets reportedly "influential among Hindus", The Indian American and The Gujrat Time. New Jersey businessman Devendra "Dave" Makkar is the treasurer.
According to the Hindus4Trump group, "the founders of "Indian-Americans For Trump 2016" are well known members of the American Hindu community".
The Hindus4Trump group also goes on to elaborate on how support for Trump has existed for very long now among Hindus in America.
"The world renowned and cross-sectional "Indian American Intellectuals Forum" (IAIF) endorsed Donald Trump for president back in August of 2015 in the release of their widely circulated "India World Geopolitics" print newspaper," it notes.
The blog further states:
"IAIF was founded by the late Narain Kataria, an almost universally respected man whose funeral was attended by hundreds in New York City. Kataria was a Hindu from Sindh Pakistan who was forced to flee his home after Pakistan became an Islamic State in the 1950's which sparked Muslim pogroms against … minorities. Narain Kataria spent much of his retired years warning Americans about the dangers of Islamization and highlighting the plight of Hindus under Islamic rule in Pakistan and Bangladesh."
According to the blog, Kataria and his IAIF crew were part of the organising group which arranged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Madison Square Garden in 2014.
Meanwhile, the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), in typical Trump-type hyperbole, claims to have “poured millions of dollars” into the effort to elect GOP politicians.
The group’s founder, Shalabh Kumar, reportedly “is close to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, [and] has relationships in the Republican Party dating back to the Reagan administration.”
[Courtesy: The Huffington Post. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 5, 2016
Conversation about this article
1: Jim Rourke (London, United Kingdom), March 05, 2016, 7:01 AM.
It makes perfect sense that these extremist 'Hindus' and Trump should gravitate to each other like flies to honey.
2: K K Biswas (Gurgaon, India), March 05, 2016, 7:02 AM.
I hang my head in shame.
3: Gursharan Kaur (New Jersey, USA), March 05, 2016, 7:08 AM.
The group’s founder, Shalabh Kumar, “has relationships in the Republican Party dating back to the Reagan administration”? Yeah, right! I bet you that means, at best, that this fella had stepped somewhere on the American subcontinent for a brief moment when Reagan was President. Any takers?
4: Shobha Raman (Connecticut, USA), March 05, 2016, 7:12 AM.
No, no, no, Gursharan ji! He had a real relationship with President Reagan. You see, he once actually spoke to someone who actually saw President Reagan live on TV while he was actually President. Oh, you doubters!
5: Prabhu Prabhakar (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada), March 05, 2016, 7:58 AM.
This is an obscene example of the cheap pandering that goes on at election time in 'democracies'. (Yes, I've read T. Sher Singh's recent piece, 'The Death of Democracy" and agree with much of what he said.) By a bunch of rascals attaching themselves to another rascal they think is on the ascent. Boy, are they all in for a let down!
6: Bipin Pandey (Mumbai, India), March 05, 2016, 8:21 AM.
Idiots rooting for an Idiot. What happened to the Hindutva stance that you can't appropriate Hindu gods and goddesses by demeaning them for commercial or political or personal gain?
7: Manbir Singh (Kerala, India), March 05, 2016, 8:26 AM.
Half of India -- the South -- worships Ravan, who is treated as a demon in the North. Hindutva is nothing if it isn't intricately interwoven with expediency. It's a free-for-all. So, why not Trump? After all, India's nemesis, Indira Gandhi, is hailed as a Hindu goddess-mother by politicians and goondas of every ilk whenever it is convenient to do so.
8: Gurteg Singh (New York, USA), March 05, 2016, 10:26 AM.
The opportunist Hindutava gang is playing on both sides of the field. Part of their team is also with Hillary -- who they will probably portray as the incarnation of Laxmi. The goal is to protect their economic interests and specially the lucrative outsourcing of American jobs because of con artists from India who take advantage of H1B and L1 Visa to steal American jobs.
9: Arjan Singh (USA), March 05, 2016, 9:55 PM.
Thanks to sikhchic.com for publishing this story. I am speaking from the trenches ... things in the corporate world in USA are bad; Indian-origin professionals are literally bringing down the level of service and quality of the work to those that exist in India. Here are a few examples: CVs full of lies, fraudulent HR practices, daily lies from left and right ears, gravy trail of Hindus hiring Hindus, bringing pictures of pedophiles (so called godmen) to their desks. The list is endless ... I hang my head in shame every time I encounter one of these so called 'engineers' from India. The Chinese-origin professionals are also guilty of such shenanigans, but Indians have taken it to a whole new level. There are a few enlightened souls in the Hindu community, but the majority consists of opportunists who have no hesitation in supporting a scoundrel like Trump, and at the same time, Hilary or any politician. Readers must note that Hitler is one of the most popular figures idolized in India today.
10: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom ), March 05, 2016, 10:24 PM.
It is for these very reasons that Sikhism rejected every aspect of Hinduism because it is completely mired in selfishness.
11: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom ), March 07, 2016, 11:40 PM.
Commentator #9 Arjan Singh ji, you've summed up quite brilliantly that these chaps have absolutely no morality and ethics whatsoever. They're the same Nazi-like perverts who dance around make-believe female deities, yet rape and otherwise brutalize their own women to no end.
12: Arjan Singh (USA), March 08, 2016, 6:09 PM.
#11 Baldev ji: There is a reason that Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha wrote a book titled "Hum Hindu Nahin". In this book he vehemently and vigourously asserted a clear separation of Sikhism from Hinduism. There is a clear distinction of ethos between these two ideologies. Majority of the Hindu community will willingly sell their souls for petty benefits, while majority of the Sikh community fights to the last man for what is right. I left India before the age of 17. All my experience with the Hindu community has been in USA only. I once had the misfortune of signing a lease (contract) with 3 India-origin professionals (2 Hindus and 1 Muslim). I broke the contract within 2 months because I could see the shenanigans they played at work and at home. Dishonesty and lies were prevalent in the house we shared. Much to my chagrin they actually blamed me for not being a willing partner to the cheating they did on a regular basis at work and at home. From their CVs and right down to their leases for the condo, lies were prevalent. I broke the lease and essentially packed my bags and moved out, in spite of them threatening me with a lawsuit. To this day I have never heard of a lawsuit from their end because they themselves were guilty of multiple violations. Unfortunately as many young Sikh men have given up their identity they too are adapting the same habits and mannerisms, and you will see that many Sikh men are now actually behaving like Hindus. Sad but a true fact.