The Indian state sees Singh – who is the first turbaned Sikh leader of any national party in Canada – as a threat to its sovereignty.

Ever since Singh ran for the leadership, the Indian agents in Canada have been trying hard to get him defeated. Now, when the polls are suggesting that the election might result in a minority Liberal government, with the balance of power coming into the hands of the New Democrats, they will apply every tool in their tool box to bring the Conservatives to power through their supporters in the predominantly South Asian ridings.

The reason for their hostility towards Singh is rooted in his campaign for justice for the victims of the 1984 Sikh genocide. Thousands of Sikhs were murdered all over India following the assassination of the then-Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards, in the first week of November 1984. The massacre was engineered by the supporters of the slain leader, with the help of the police. For years, the Sikh diaspora has been fighting for justice and closure. Singh had vehemently participated in the campaign, as MPP in Ontario, because of which the Indian government declined to give him visa to visit the home country of his parents.

The matter did not end there as Singh remains critical of human rights abuse in India. He had refused to meet the current right wing Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister,NarendraModi, when he visited Canada in 2015. 

Modi was complicit in anti-Muslim massacre in Gujarat in 2002. The violence followed the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. Over 50 people had died in the incident that was instantly blamed on Muslims by Modi, who was the Chief Minister of the state back then, even though one commission of inquiry had found that it was an accident.  
Recently, Singh came out with a strong statement against the repression of Muslims in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.
For this, the pro-India lobby has repeatedly branded him as a Sikh separatist. This may be partly because he endorses the right to self-determination by all minorities and oppressed groups anywhere in the world.

Unfortunately, this narrative has not only been accepted by the right wing Hindu nationalists in Canada, but also by a section of the pro-India leftists. They have decided not to support him in the election, which is obviously going to help the Conservatives and, to some extent, the Liberals. It is a separate matter that the Indian government is also suspicious of the ruling Liberals, who have been often accused,by the Indian politicians,of pandering to Sikh separatists in Canada.

For the records, Conservatives have a cosy relationship with Modi, who they see as a strong ideological ally in India.

It’s a shame that the Indian establishment has stooped to such level and isn’t willing to respect the mandate of theCanadian citizens, while, at the same time, patronizing political figures like TulsiGabbard across the border.

Much like Singh, Gabbard is also a Democrat and is seeking to run for the US Presidency. Many of her positions, in terms of domestic politics, are seen as progressive, but her allegiance to the Hindu right in India has never come into question. 

A practicing Hindu, Gabbard is a staunch supporter of Modi and has gone to the extent of justifying violence against Muslims in Gujarat. When Modi was denied visa by the US government because of his involvement in the pogrom, Gabbard came to his rescue. So much so, she has been supported, both financially and politically, by the followers of a powerful Hindu supremacist organization, the RashtriyaSawayamsewakSangh (RSS), of which Modi is a part. 

Recently, Gabbard had tried to rationalise the repression of Muslims in Kashmir. A senior RSS leader attended her wedding a few years ago, and brought with him a personal message from Modi, with one Indian diplomat being present.

If the Indian government can give protocol and respect to such a divisive political figure in US, why is Singh being ostracised? Singh, too, is of Indian origin, and is an elected official who could be a future leader of Canada. He has every right to see things differently. If Gabbard can be pardoned for being supportive of an ideology that is blatantly racist, why not forgive Singh, who has only been asking for justice?

Consider some of these contrasting headlines from the Indian press, used for the two leaders, to understand this hypocrisy:
Jagmeet Singh’s rise in Canadian politics could be of concern in India. Jagmeet Singh faces criticism for pushing Canada’s parliament to give ‘genocide’ tag to 1984 riots etc.

versus

Tulsi Gabbard could be the first Hindu to run for US presidency in 2020; TulsiGabbard, 1st Hindu-American to run for US president. 
Like it or not, but this prejudice has to do a lot with the fact that Singh belongs to a merely two percent minority community of India, whereas Gabbard is the poster girl of the Hindu Right. This showcases how India remains a majoritarian Hindu state under the garb of secularism and democracy. It’s time to defeat the nefarious designs of the RSS and its followers in Canada on the election day, by giving Singh the support he deserves. This is not to suggest that one should support him blindly, but at least be considerate about the inconvenient truth of him being a marked man. It remains important to recognize that he is a victim of foreign interference because of his identity and political beliefs.

Related Articles:

1. Hindu ‘nationalism’ is about “pride in one’s religion”: Tulsi Gabbard
2. Tulsi Gabbard and Her Hindutva Connection
3. US Congressman Ro Khanna rejects Hindutva, speaks for Equal Rights of all Indians

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New Delhi: October 15, 2019 :  She is nothing short of the US presidential candidate. Meet Tulsi Gabbard, US Congresswoman on a trip to her ‘home’ country. In a recent interview with The Times of India, defended the idea of Hindu nationalism by suggesting it is about “expressing pride in one’s religion.”

Earlier this year, in January, Gabbard had reportedly protested that she has “been accused of being a ‘Hindu nationalist’,” but she appeared to take a different approach in the October 13 interview. When asked about “the upsurge of Hindu nationalism and Hindu pride” displayed at the recent “Howdy, Modi” event in Houston, TX, she stated, “Hindu nationalism is a term that many people are using frequently without being specific about what they mean by that. Why is expressing pride in one’s religion a bad thing?”

These comments by Gabbard come just two weeks after she stirred controversy for apparently justifying a 2002 pogrom conducted against Muslims in Gujarat, India by militant Hindu nationalist outfits.

At an October 1 campaign event in Londonderry, New Hampshire, the presidential aspirant was asked about her relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Many consider him to be complicit in the deadly ’02 Gujarat riots,” an audience member said to Gabbard, who shot back: “Do you know what instigated those riots?” Her response was widely interpreted as a justification of the violence in Gujarat, which claimed approximately 2,000 Muslim lives.

In 2002, Human Rights Watch reported, “Communal violence against Muslims in Gujarat is intimately connected to a rise of Hindu nationalism.” Implicating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliates as “directly responsible” for the killings, HRW explained that the RSS “has propagated a militant form of Hindu nationalism which it promotes as the sole basis for national identity in India.” In a February 2019 report, HRW warned, “The rise in Hindu nationalism in India since 2014, has fostered a climate of hate and discrimination against Muslims, Dalits, and other minority communities, leading to an increase in violent attacks against them in many parts of the country.”

Gabbard at India Ideas Conclave 2014 with BJP spokesperson Ram Madhav (L) and RSS apologist David Frawley (R)

Last year, a report from a Special Rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council warned, “The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been linked to incidents of violence against members of Dalit, Muslim, tribal and Christian communities. Reports document the use of inflammatory remarks by BJP leaders against minority groups, and the rise of vigilantism targeting Muslims and Dalits.”

Gabbard’s association with Modi and the RSS has inspired strong criticism. After neglecting to join the BJP’s Modi at his September 22 “Howdy, Modi” event, she issued an apology. “I’m sorry that I’m not able to join,” said the congresswoman, but offered no comment about the estimated 15,000 South Asians who protested the event.
Later that week, she met Modi in New York City for their fifth meeting since 2014.

“Tulsi Gabbard’s defense of religious nationalism is an appalling attitude for a member of the US Congress, which we hope would represent and defend a secular, pluralistic society,” remarks Arvin Valmuci of Organization for Minorities of India. “Considering the congresswoman’s cozy relations with the Hindu nationalist BJP, it is not surprising she deliberately obfuscates the crystal clear definition of Hindu nationalism. She should be ashamed for excusing the violent ideology of Hindu nationalism as nothing more than being proud of one’s religion.”

In her Times of India interview, Gabbard further argued that there is “an unfortunate Hinduphobic approach taken to Hindus who are expressing their pride.” She claimed her political opponents are “resorting to these Hinduphobic attacks,” stating, “What concerns me is that it may discourage other Hindu Americans from running for office.”

“Absolutely nonsense,” said Dr. Ashok Swain. A professor of peace and conflict studies, he added, “The opposition to Tulsi Gabbard is not that she identifies as a Hindu American but because she acts as a stooge of Hindu Supremacist group RSS in the USA.”

Just this week, Gabbard had stepped on to the US national stage once as she joined 11 other candidates for the Democratic Party’s fourth presidential debate in Westerville, Ohio.

Related Articles:
1.Tulsi Gabbard and Her Hindutva Connection
2.All in the Family: The American Sangh’s affair with Tulsi Gabbard
3.H.Res.417 – Praising India’s rich religious diversity and commitment to tolerance and equality, and reaffirming the need to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities.
 
 

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Her link with the fascist group that has primarily been actively spreading hate and promoting hate crimes against the marginalized sections of the Indian society has been criticized and condemned by a large group of likeminded individuals such as writers, research scholars, activists, lawyers, students and professionals from different fields.

They have issued a statement condemning the silence of the Democratic Party that is fielding Tulsi Gabbard despite knowing that she is associated with the Hindu-militant organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and its American affiliates.

The statement mentions that Tulsi Gabbard has been funded by members of groups like – Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Overseas Friends of the BJP, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and Ekal Foundation, which have direct links with the RSS.
 

The group of citizens from India who has issued the statement to the Democratic party condemning the silence of the party also stated that It would be a moral failure of members of the Democratic Party to have within their ranks a person like Gabbard who has supported and is backed by a network under whose rule India has witnessed increasing violence against Christians, Muslims and Dalits, disenfranchising of minority groups, illegal detention and clampdown on human rights of Kashmiris, and crushing of rational and progressive voices.

Their demand is that unless Gabbard unequivocally and publicly denounces the hate politics of RSS, the Democratic Party leaders hold her accountable being hand-in-glove with forces of hate and cut all ties with her.

Among the signatories are Dr. Ram Punyani, Shabnam Hashmi, Pieter Friedrich, Umar Khalid and others.

Courtesy: Two Circle

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Gabbard has openly shown her support for authoritarians abroad including the president of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and India’s PM Narendra Modi. Time and again, she has attended events of the RSS-BJP and have shown solidarity with the ‘threat to the Hindus’ due to the Islamist extremism. Due to her radical ideology, she has been labelled as a person who celebrates and embraces fascists who massacre Muslims, Christians and other minorities.

Hindu-Americans have supported Gabbard since the start of her political career, and that support has increased substantially since Modi’s election, much of it coming from Hindu nationalists. After Modi’s election in 2014, in a public gathering at a Hindu temple in Atlanta, organised by the Overseas Friends of the BJP, the American chapter of the BJP, the Modi supporters appealed to donate for Gabbard’s re-election campaign describing her as an “American Hindu” who “has fought against the anti-Modi resolution introduced recently by some members of Congress.” According to Gabbard’s financial disclosures from 2011 to October, 2018, majority of her donors have strong ties with the Sangh Parivar.

Since 2013, Gabbard has attended conferences across the US, organised by Sangh Parivar affiliates like the Vishva Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) whose Indian counterpart has been recognized as a ‘militant religious organisation’ advocating violence against Muslims in India by the CIA World Factbook. Gabbard also has strong ties with the Hindu American Foundation, a not-for-profit advocacy organization of Hindu-Americans.

Gabbard’s ties to VHPA members have seeped over from professional to personal. VHPA member Rishi Bhutada and the National General Secretary of the BJP, Ram Madhav, were invited to her wedding at Hawaii. Madhav had reportedly given a gift to Gabbard on behalf of Modi.

Gabbard had openly criticized the US government’s decision to ban Modi’s visa owing to his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots that killed more than 1000 people of which almost 800 were Muslims.  Gabbard called the no-visa decision a “great blunder.” Further, in December 2013, she had voiced her opposition to the House Resolution 417 which criticized India for failing to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities referring to the mass violence against Muslim minorities that had taken place under Modi’s watch. She told the media, “there was a lot of misinformation that surrounded the event in 2002.”

The 2020 presidential candidate Gabbard has repeatedly expressed her sympathies for authoritarian world leaders. Her Hindu supremacist exclusionary ideology aligns with that of India’s BJP and its leader Modi with whom she shares a great rapport. After a meeting with Modi, she had said, “We had a wide-ranging discussion on several issues our countries have in common, including how America and India can work together to help combat the global threat posed by Islamic extremism.”

Predictably, Gabbard has denied connections with the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates. However, the Hawaiians have accused her of putting the interests of religious fanatics ahead of the interests of humanity calling her a ‘polarizing figure’. They have expressed their disapproval of Gabbard’s ignorance of the conditions of the people of Hawaii.

As right-wing nationalism rises across the globe, people like Gabbard are beginning to be recognized as an existential threat to a world order rooted in liberal democratic values.
 
 

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The World Hindu Congress claims to be a global platform for Hindus all over the world to connect and share ideas and inspire one another. The congress is held once every four years. This year 2018 marks the marks the commemoration of 125 years of Swami Vivekananda’s address at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

Tulsi Gabbard has stated on record in a letter addressed to Dr. Asthana, convenor, World Hindu Congress, that she does not want to serve as the honorary chair for the said event as the event is a platform for partisan politics in India and withdrew her participation due to ethical concerns and problems that could arise due to her participation in the event.

There have been many media outlets that have propagated that Tulsi Gabbard is chairing the World Hindu Congress 2018. While some have been spreading rumours as to why Tulsi Gabbard is not part of the event.

To set the record right the politician has clarified in her press release posted on her website the reasons of her withdrawal in the letter addressed to Dr Asthana. She has also asked the convener to remove all her pictures, videos and also her name from all promotional materials of the World Hindu Congress and also from the website of the Hindu Congress.

The world Hindu Congress came into a recent controversy after a report by Minorities of India highlighted that Swami Vigyananand, founder of the World Hindu Congress (WHC), called for arming “the masses” with trishuls — short-handled tridents — saying, “You can’t kill with the trishul but symbols and ideas are interconnected by the law of association.” The swami, who elsewhere calls for establishing “a Hindu State,” made his comments in a May 2003 interview with India’s Outlook magazine. Responding to questions about the VHP’s trishul distribution program, he had stated, “Who will protect the masses? Not the police or the army, they are unfit for it. The trishul sends a message that we should stand and fight. You can’t kill with the trishul but symbols and ideas are interconnected by the law of association. When the mind gets ready, everything is possible.”

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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