Focus on unifying issues: US lawmaker criticizes talk of ‘Hinduphobia’

Ro Khanna, a US lawmaker of Indian descent, has urged those in the Indian diaspora who have been raising the specter of growing “Hinduphobia” of late to focus on unifying issues.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a one-day conference he is hosting on Capitol Hill on the India-US elections, the lawmaker also indicated he will push for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be invited to address a joint session of the Congress during his June visit. which, to be clear, has not been officially announced.

Khanna is one of three Hindu Americans in the US Congress, and his home state of California is currently a battleground for Hindu Americans trying to prevent passage of a proposed law that seeks to ban caste-based discrimination, which they have blamed, among other things. , those who oppose Hindus.

The phrase “Hinduphobia” is used by these Hindu Americans to describe and define any and all real or imagined slights.

“I grew up American Indian, American Hindu, in the 1980s, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I was 97 percent white and Christian. And I didn’t know the word Hinduphobia nor did I feel Hinduphobia at any time in my life. I was up,” he said remembering something he said in a previous conversation with someone. “So now we have all these Indian Americans and it’s everywhere…” she added, leaving that sentence hanging in the air.

“I think what we have to focus on as a community is how do we contribute to the American project? How can we be proud of our identity? And obviously if someone feels they’re being discriminated against, they should speak up, but my “personal experience has been a great hope for the American people, who have been very welcoming and understanding of people of different faiths. I think you have American Indians at the forefront of the biggest companies in the world. Now, there was a time, you know, in the 1980s, when people couldn’t know a staffer from a member of Congress. They didn’t yell Hinduphobia.”

The lawmaker clearly has no sympathy for those who chant “Hinduphobia,” which includes elements of right-wing Hindu Americans linked to the broader sangh parivar.

On Modi’s upcoming visit, Khanna said the India caucus, which he co-chairs, could write to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to invite the Indian prime minister to address the joint session of Congress, which it is an honor that is not extended to all visiting chiefs. of state or government.

Prime Minister Modi first addressed the US Congress in 2016. Khanna’s suggestion, if approved, will make him the first Indian prime minister to receive this honor twice. All the others had to settle for just one each: Jawaharlal Nehru (1949), Rajiv Gandhi (1985), PV Narasimha Rao (1994), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2000) and Manmohan Singh (2005).

–IANOS

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