‘Hindu Caucus’ Event On Capitol Hill Misses The Point
By YASHWANT RAJ
WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) – Lawmakers came and held forth. On Mahatma Gandhi. On the Taj Mahal. And Indian Americans, their riches, and their achievements. Anything but Hindu Americans.
The problem: The lawmakers had been invited to an event hosted by a combination of Hindu Americans — Americans for Hindus and the Hindu American Foundation — in Capitol Hill on June 14 to support and bless a move to launch a religion-specific Hindu Caucus in Congress, which, in the words of the hosts, would take care of the Hindus, protect their interests and, most urgently, combat Hinduphobia.
Four of the five Indian Americans in the US Congress, including the three Hindus Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal. did not attend.
The fourth, Ami Bera, is not Hindu, he is Unitarian. Shri Thanedar, the fifth and newest member of the group that calls itself the “Samosa Caucus” attended and promised to shepherd the caucus.
But the other lawmakers? They did not know what they were doing.
“I love the thought of, as I am looking at Mahatma Gandhi and the Statue of Liberty,” said Joe Wilson, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, nodding at a large poster in front, and there was the same poster behind him and the speaker’s lectern.
“They deserve to be together.” It was not Mahatma Gandhi on the poster. It was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; actually, an image of his statue in Gujarat that’s known as the Statue of Unity. Wilson had crossed a line. And he did not know it.
The difference between the two men — Gandhi and Patel — go far deeper for subscribers of the muscular brand of Hinduism promoted by the RSS-BJP combine, which venerates Gandhi’s assassin.
“They really do not know or understand the difference between the two men,” said one of the organizers, adding “because they don’t know what Gandhi did”.
Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, hadn’t been briefed on the Gandhi-Patel dynamic either.
“I’m the kind of member who has been to India many times. I had the pleasure of walking through the house of Gandhi when I visited with the late John Lewis (a longtime member of the House of Representatives and a civil rights leader who was close to Martin Luther King),” she said, adding, unknowingly crossing another redline: “I’ve been everywhere, to the Taj Mahal more times than I can count.”
She was met with a deafening silence. Her attempts to connect with her Indian American constituents, using the usual pitch points — the Taj Mahal that had always worked — failed.
Barely a minute before, the Congresswoman was greeted with long and loud applause when she brought up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit later this month and said that she was looking forward to his address to the joint session of Congress.
Indians — and by extension Indian Americans — were proud of the Taj Mahal once. And then it became a disputed territory in the revisionist history of India promoted by the RSS-BJP combine and their governments.
Despite missing the regular pitch points, Congresswoman Jackson Lee took a thinly veiled shot at the current political situation in India. “I think democracy is an issue that we can join together on because there is no doubt India is the largest, and we are the oldest and we’ve all had our challenges, have we not? We have all had our challenges,” she said.
For a Democrat like herself, the threat to democracy in the US comes from supporters of former President Donald Trump, a Republican, who is facing investigations for trying to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Who Cares
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Since India gained independence the corrupt Congress did everything possible to put down Hindus. The Taj Mahal is a grave of a king and queen who invaded India. And that is the monument which was the image of India. Not the amazing temples or the amazing states but a grave. It does not take a genius to understand why more and more Hindus have gravitated to Modi. It took 60 years for Hindus to feel proud of their country. NRIs like me want to now return to India and help make it the #1 country in the world. People like you cannot understand what a patriotic Hindu feels for his or her motherland today and that is why you miss the point.
June 16, 2023Prince
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Surprised they didn’t have a statue of donald trump and did arti!
June 16, 2023SunMoonAnand
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The concept of Hindutva comes from the ego of India and Gandhi /Tagore and others represent the Spirit of India. It’s about time India matures and goes beyond ego and align with the Spirit of India .
June 17, 2023APK
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That would still be better than your side doing aarti for bumbling Rahul and mumbling Manmohan and fumbling Biden.
June 17, 2023PAA
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After watching agenda of Pramila Jaipal, Ro Khanna et el, I stopped contributing them and changing my registration from Dem to Independent.
June 16, 2023Tony
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King and queen whose grave is Taj Mahal didn’t invade India. Tourist visit Taj Mahal for its architecture, complex construction and artistic beauty. Don’t people visit Pyramids also graves. Now a true Hindu is considered one who hates Islam and Gandhi and all other religions. Actually he is follower of Hindutva and NOT a Hindu. In fact Billions of Dollars have been wasted to Promote Hindutva in form of propaganda machinery to change text books , history etc to spread hatred.
June 16, 2023Vijay
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Taj Mahal is a glorified graveyard or a mini cemetery. Images of Taj now need to purged out of their homes and replaced with magnificent temples. We should not forget the fact that the invaders destroyed Hindu temples and built mosques over them. Thanks to Mr. Modi for waking Hindus up.
June 17, 2023Mouli
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Hinduism has survived eons of attack against its existence in India and it will survive for eons more. It doesn’t make sense to form various religious groups to survive and there is no need to promote Hinduism. In fact some of the fundamental tenets of Hinduism has already spread around the world, such as ‘karma’, a word used often in their lingua. Yoga, another fundamental Hindu philosophy tying mind to body is widespread, all achieved by natural flow of thoughts. Hinduism doesn’t have to be preached. It is not a religion which believes in proselytization unlike other religions.
US, has been able to accommodate many religions and an individual’s belief is ever considered as a part of their persona in their daily lives, unlike in India. So, let’s not muddy the water here and bring our ‘religion’ baggage to this country.
June 17, 2023