HinduPACT Demands Dismissal Of Peter Navarro For Promoting Hate

 India-West Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON, DC – HinduPACT’s American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) on September 2 called on the President of the United States to immediately dismiss Peter Navarro from his role as Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. The group condemned Navarro’s public remarks targeting Brahmins, accusing them of “profiting at the expense of the Indian people,” calling the comments a recycled colonial-era trope meant to divide Hindu society.

“This is not foreign policy. It’s weaponized Hinduphobia,” said Ajay Shah, Executive Chair of HinduPACT. “Dividing Hindus through colonial scripts destroys relationships. People like Navarro have no place in American political life.”

Navarro also circulated an image of India’s Prime Minister meditating in saffron robes, a sacred Hindu practice. Deepti Mahajan, President of HinduPACT, said, “Saffron is sacred. Prayer is not propaganda. Mocking religious practices or leaders undermines both diplomacy and religious respect.”

AHAD warned that Navarro’s rhetoric has real-world consequences for Hindus in the United States, leading to discrimination in schools, workplaces, and religious spaces. “When someone uses caste to shame India, it lands on Hindus here,” said Deepa Karthik, General Secretary. “Kids get bullied. Workers get profiled. Our heritage is unfairly politicized.”

The group stressed that tolerating Hindu ridicule within US policy circles sends a dangerous message to over five million Hindus in America and more than a billion in India. AHAD called on the President to remove Navarro to protect religious dignity and preserve the bilateral relationship between the two largest democracies.