Part of the mythology that surrounds United States President Donald Trump in the minds of Hindutva supporters is that, at some level, he is one of them: a man after their own hearts.
I am not sure why this should be so. As far as I can remember, this view first gained traction in December 2015 when Trump, speaking as a candidate for President, called for a total ban on Muslims entering the US.
Moreover, he added, he wanted enhanced surveillance of mosques. “Yes, we have to look at mosques,” he said. “Because something is happening in there. Man, there’s anger, and we have to know about it.”
This view was greeted with anguished surprise by much of the world—and not just the Muslim world. But, among Hindutva hardliners, it was met with delight. Finally, somebody was talking their language.
From that point on, Trump became their hero. Such fringe groups as the Hindu Sena went on to celebrate Trump’s birthday in 2016 and some BJP leaders, such as Delhi’s Vijay Jolly, cut cakes. It was clear what this was about. The Hindu Sena called Trump a “messiah against Islamic terror”.
Trump played along, to a marginal extent. “We love the Hindus,” he said in a campaign video.
As things have turned out, this so-called love of Hindus has not yielded many concrete results. Trump is now actually much less keen on Muslim-bashing than he once was. Muslims are not banned from the US and many Muslim visitors enter the country every single day. Moreover, the Trump family has developed business relationships with the proudly Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Muslim states.
Delusions of Trump’s friendship
In the minds of some Sangh parivar supporters, despite these changes in Trump’s public stance, he remains their man. Further, they say, he shares a special rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two men will protect Hindu interests worldwide.
There is very little evidence for any of this. Trump’s record suggests that while he is perfectly willing to praise foreign leaders when it suits him, this praise does not greatly affect the course of US policy. Nor is Trump especially constant in his affections or even unforgiving in his hatreds—these can fade overnight. For instance, during his first term as President, Trump spent a great deal of time abusing North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, even calling him “little rocket man” at the United Nations. This changed almost overnight because, as he told a rally of his supporters, “We fell in love.”
All this is suddenly relevant to us because, in his second term, Trump has followed a loudly xenophobic agenda casting the US as a victim of unfair and unequal relationships with foreign countries.
“We’ve been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth, and we will not let that happen any longer,” he declared in his address to Congress this week.
Many of his statements have suggested that India is one of the countries that he believes is ‘ripping off’ the US. For his Hindutva-loving fans in India, it is unthinkable that their hero could possibly believe this. And so, when Modi went to Washington to meet the President and was received cordially, this was treated as proof that people had misunderstood Trump. He still “loved the Hindus,” and India was not his target at all. Would a man who felt that the US had been badly treated by India pull out a chair for Modi? What all this demonstrated, said Hindutva loyalists, was that our Prime Minister was a foreign policy genius who had handled Trump brilliantly.
Well, up to a point.
It is now clear that no matter how much Trump and Modi get on, if indeed they do, Trump has not changed his mind about India-US relations and the imbalance in our trade policies.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” he told Congress. India was on his list of countries that had harmed US trade interests.
“It’s very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 percent,” Trump declared.
At another place in the same speech, he also listed India along with China and the EU nations as countries that the US needed to take reciprocal action against.
I doubt if declarations of Hindutva loyalty will change any of this; it is one of the cornerstones of Trump’s policy programme. Nor will any great advances be made in India-US relations. Trump’s emphasis, in this term, is determinedly isolationist. He is not interested in being friends with foreign countries. He only wants to show the American people how he has whipped foreign governments into line to get them to respect America and advance American interests.
Also read: Trump shows how to make headlines—and Indian TV channels show what to make news out of
Welcome to the real world
It’s hard to see how India can avoid having to agree to trade concessions and reducing tariffs. When it comes to Trump’s conception of American power, there is no special relationship. All countries are treated in much the same way.
Is this unreasonable?
I don’t believe it is. Nations must put their own interests first. And ultimately, it is the interests of the powerful that prevail. It is instructive that most of the Indians that the Trump regime bound, shackled, and shoved on to deportation planes were not Muslims but Hindus—in many cases, Gujarati Hindus. It is as instructive that Trump’s Hindutva fans were unable to do anything about this. From all accounts, the brutal deportations of Indians—mostly Hindus—will continue month after month, or perhaps, week after week.
So, for all the Sangh parivar members who cut cakes and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Donald Trump, what can one say except “Welcome to the real world?”
Donald Trump is not pro-Hindu or anti-Hindu. He is pro-American. None of this Hindutva stuff matters to him. So, it may be time to go easy on the birthday parties and cut fewer cakes…
Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist, and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
You need to check doctor. You are too much busy on hindu hindutva
Mr. Shanghvi, You have raised good points. If I have any quibble, it’s on who or what Trump is for. Donald Trump is only pro-Donald Trump. He is in it only for himself.
But Bhakts will continue holding out hope.
Nothing will change. India will remain a poor, socialist, undeveloped, and corrupt country.
With every passing article, the author is making less sense. He uses non tangential ad hoc arguments to bolster his talking points. The Opposition needs to seriously consider him for a Rajya Sabha seat or make him an official spokesperson
Get a life Mr. Sanghvi.
This unhealthy obsession with Hindutva, Modi, RSS, BJP, etc. will do you no good.