New Delhi: Tulsi Gabbard, still a US presidential candidate despite minimal support, has been criticised for tweeting about ‘Hinduphobia’ in US, with many accusing her of “covering for an anti-Muslim pogrom“.
In her tweet late Thursday, the Congresswoman said Hinduphobia in the US was “very real”. She also said she has experienced it during her election campaigns in the US. Gabbard claimed that US political leaders not only tolerate but also foment it.
Unfortunately, Hinduphobia is very real. I've experienced it directly in each of my campaigns for Congress & in this presidential race. Here's just one example of what Hindus face every day in our country. Sadly, our political leaders & media not only tolerate it, but foment it. https://t.co/60MDtszQHf
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 5, 2020
The 39-year-old Democrat was responding to a Facebook post about an alleged encounter between an Indian-American and a ‘Hinduphobic’ Uber driver that was shared on the social networking site by an user named Dr Sheenie Ambardar.
Ambardar, who identifies herself as a Kashmiri Hindu American, heads the Happiness Psychiatry in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.
The Facebook post shared by her describes a “traumatic experience” that two women had while travelling in an Uber car.
According to the post, a woman and her sister were allegedly targetted by the Uber driver for their religious and ethnic identity. Referring to the recent Delhi riots, the driver allegedly said “Hindus were killings Muslims in India”, and later asked both women to exit the vehicle.
The riots in Northeast Delhi, which started on 24 February and went on for nearly three days, claimed over 40 lives.
Also read: Why the root of Delhi’s Hindu-Muslim riots is a malevolent creeper planted by Supreme Court
‘Gabbard is a Modi, RSS supporter’
Ambardar’s reaction to the post ended with the words “Hinduphobia in America is REAL”, which was echoed by Gabbard in her tweet that has received over 3,700 comments and 10 times as many likes.
Many users have accused Gabbard of defending “fascism” in India. One Sujit Das, from Ann Arbor in Michigan, said: “Hindutva is fascism, and calling it such is not Hinduphobic. Denounce Modi and the Delhi pogroms.”
“Tulsi here is minimising or even covering for an anti-Muslim pogrom…reprehensible, jaw-dropping and disgraceful!!” said Toronto-based writer Jeff Halperin.
One user even raised questions about Gabbard’s ties with the BJP government in India and said: “#TulsiGabbard understands that criticising her for wearing colors of a foreign political party, the #BJP, on more than 1 occasion, speaking at 10+ #RSS events, giving platform to #RSS/#BJP spokesperson at her wedding & offering apologetics for #Modi has nothing to do w/religion.”
Another user said she was an “RSS and Modi supporter”.
You're a Modi and RSS supporting Hindu nationalist. Sit down.
— Sanwal Kazi (@sanwal18) March 5, 2020
“53 people died. Thousands fled homes. That’s just the recent Delhi carnage. Nauseating radicalisation, saffron terror,hate crimes. The lumpen goons hv begun attacking churches too- supp. by quasi terr. org RSS that you align w/. The Hinduphobia may well have been earned. Reflect (sic),” said another user named Sidrah, a blogger and professional working at a non-profit in Mumbai.
Some others chose images, ones that came to be recognised as the face of the Delhi riots, to target her instead of using words.
https://twitter.com/x_hindu_atheist/status/1235647485638397952?s=20
Users also suggested that discrimination faced by Hindus versus Muslims was a false equivalence.
Maybe this gave that Hindu in the Uber a small taste of what Muslims experience in India every day.
— Jaya (@JayaTigerLily) March 5, 2020
Others chose to criticise the term ‘Hinduphobia’ itself.
Hinduphobia is something which is artificially created..totally baseless.. in order to counter Islamophobia.
Its a result of propaganda run by western media and leftists.
Sheer nonsense!
— Nimisha (@Nimisha0610) March 5, 2020
Gabbard, a representative from Hawaii, is the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress. She was born to American parents and raised in Hawaii. She is not of Indian-origin.
Also read: Life returns to Northeast Delhi as shops open, kids go back to tuition, public transport resumes
Dismiss someone’s lived experiences? Deny it’s existence? On the basis of one’s construed political affiliation?
Worst kind of ultra right, intolerant journalism, paradoxical to the supposed claim of this enterprise of hatred and vitriol. Even saying that is a shame to right wing politics which just like left, is one side of the same coin that may construct and compliment rather than divide in hostile,i irreconcilable binaries.
“The Hinduphobia may well have been earned.” This has been quoted in your report? Instead of condemning this insensitive invective, you give it a platform? Endorse it in your flat, one sided tirade?
Reflect.
yes, hinduphobia is real and unfortunately it is generated by collusion of muslims with hindu sounding names of false seculars/ liberals.
This has also connection with political parties, who have been thrashed by electorates and have eyes on muslim vote bank.
Take a look at yahoo coverage. Reuters, AFP, and other outlets have journalists without credentials creating a false narrative about India, day in and day out. Most of the commenters are Pakistani and some Chinese. It’s heartbreaking to see the resounding silence from victims of Hindus who suffer quietly. No human should be harmed, regardless of race, religion, or creed. If a Muslim is harmed, several Hindus join in condemning the attack.There is never coverage of attacks on Hindus, or there’s absolute silence when someone voices it. Muslims never condemn their own even on the face of injustice. Never. Skewing the narrative is the worst thing a journalist can do, and sometimes I wonder if the paid journalists have no conscience whatsoever. If someone stands up for the Hindu who has no religious backing, there is a cacophony of voices attacking them for intolerance. How can they even rap at the doors of justice?
Ah – the “poor” Muslim routine again. Forever the “victim”, when the overwhelming historical evidence says otherwise.
The argument that both Hindus and Muslims were killed therefore it’s not an assault on minorities(in this case Muslims) does not hold water. Hindutva mobs had no business confronting those protestors in the first place. The government had so many options to disperse off the protesters like reassuring them that nrc will not be brought and by removing the discriminatory clauses in caa or directly engaging the protesters at the ministry level and allaying their anxieties. It was complete intelligence failure on part of the government for not envisaging the riots when you allow to opposing groups to confront each other, worst part being people from the ruling party cheerleading the mobs from one side. It’s foolish to expect international media to massage your ego when the reality is otherwise.
Responses to Tulsi Gabbard prove that Americans are ignorant, arrogant, refuse to read news or learn, carried away propaganda of mainstream media and public discourse. In the US iteself, over two decades, there were a series of attacks by racist thugs known as “dot busters”. They attacked hindu women sporting Bindi on their foreheads.
Calling out extreme violence by extreme Hindutva thugs isn’t “Hinduphobia”. It’s simply calling out an evil cult within Hinduism that actually takes Hitler and Nazi Germany as an inspiration.
Tulsi is an apologist for the worst, most despotic, maniacal, anti-Islamic personalities alive today, including Modi, Assad and Putin. She’s a thoroughly unpleasant and evil woman, like her Hindutva fanboys and fan girls!
Well,
There are 80 crore+ more tulsi and hindus suffering it.
all those brainiacs who are outright denying Hinduphobia under the garb of”opposing Hindutva”, here a titbit for you,
After Banglore riots, Where is the candle vigil to protests “how intolerant is India”, where is the jolly old Washington Post article demonizing Muslims, where is BBC reporting the utter stupidity of the MUSLIM MOB, where is the court petitions to repeal “Blasphemy”, where is Netflix special depicting the “adventurous life of Mohamed”, where is the “I AM ASHAMED TO BE A MUSLIM” and “F*CK ISLAMIST” banners now, where is “Jihad tere khoon se Inqulab aayega” gang, where are all those brilliant historians debating how “there was no Mohamed” and was, in fact, a British conspiracy where are all those books winning Pulitzer depicting how “Islamist wage divine war”, where is the Vice documentary on PFI and SDPI????? Been 72 hrs and yet to see the “revoluting against Jisandist” “freedom from Muslims”, did I miss it? let me know.
And then they say “there’s no Hinduphobia, its a RW construct”, no sir, it actually one and only one constructive thing that LW and their sellouts did for Hindus is to “construct”- Hinduphobia. Your hate is contagious.
The Nation is changing
Because you guys made it look like anti Muslim riots by using fancy words like pogrom when it is clearly not you all psuedo liberals must be ashamed for this creating one side narrative when many people died on both sides and you still call it anti Muslim you cant see how umar khalid ,swara,amantullah khan and many others who also instigated mob
Absolutely. These guys are responsible for all the Hindu hate. They have a history of highlighting just one side of story and it seems they can never change their ways. Biased reporters.
No, Delhi riots were anti- hindu riots.
Prove it
Yes, hinduphobia is real and unfortunately it is generated by collusion of muslims with hindu sounding names of false seculars/ liberals.
This has also connection with political parties, who have been thrashed by electorates and have eyes on muslim vote bank.
Tulsi is is the true Hindu ,who is not a cowers like millions of other Selfish Hindus