The Hindu community in the USA and particularly in Texas is split this month over a controversial ad which was placed in the India Herald by a local Fort Bend County Republican political advocacy group. The ad targeted Texas Hindu voters with an image of Ganesh, the ad explained Ganesh's symbolism, but then begged the question “Would you worship a donkey or an elephant? The choice is yours.” Now yes, at first this does sound a bit politically stupid, to equate the veneration of the Hindu god Ganesh with animal worship, and especially linking it in with a political party, however it should also be noted that The India Herald's editor Seshadri Kumar and others were consulted on the ad before it was launched and that they did not find it offensive, perhaps only in poor taste.
I've received phone calls from Hindu community members asking me to write a piece on the scandal and to add some further community comments and insights. The people I have spoken to who have seen the ad state that except for the phrase "would you worship a donkey or an elephant", that the rest of the ad was flattering to Hindus. Many Hindus were pleasantly surprised to finally see political ads which target the Hindu community specifically, this after a grueling history of virtual political non-existence. One person I spoke to said she welcomed the attempt to reach out to Hindus, this showed we were finally considered and important by mainstream politics. Another Hindu I spoke to said they liked that the ad described the symbolism of Ganesh, they found it to be a respectful and educational touch. Everyone agreed the one line about worshiping donkeys and elephants was a poor choice, but overall they found the ad to be positive and encouraging.
Now the complaint against the ad comes with it's own perceived political motive as the complaint was spearheaded by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). HAF has a history of taking offense to ads which were put out by Hindus themselves when it seemed that HAF did not like the political message behind the ad. During the 2016 elections, some friends and I launched the "Hindus For Trump" campaign in which we copied the BJP's montage of depicting politicians such as Modi seated upon a lotus flower. When the BJP puts modi at the center of a lotus it would seem that this is not offensive, however when the person seated in the lotus is Donald Trump, this is deemed inflammatory by the Hindu American Foundation. HAF sent tweets to our twitter account requesting we change our poster so as not to bring disrepute upon the lotus and om symbol. Why did HAF single us out for using imagery which has been standard propaganda for the BJP and Hindu politics for years now? This poster was created by nothing but Hindus, HAF had no right to criticize standard Hindu political artwork just because the art now featured Donald Trump.
But more than this, The Hindu American Foundation claims to be a "Politically Agnostic" organization, however during the election season they produced an article in the Huffington Post which was met with much criticism not only from the Hindu community but also the White community. The title of the piece was "The Racialization of Religion Began Long Before Today’s Islamophobia". The article took aim directly at Trump's then proposal to slow down immigration from particular Islamic theocratic states in the Middle East which were known to harbor large numbers of terrorist organizations and Sharia Law activists. The article completely misrepresented the communities concerns about immigration from Islamic Theocracies by trying to paint the opposition as not being against theocracy but being racist. The article strongly implied that Whites were racializing Islam, that our concerns were not about Sharia Law and infiltration by Islamic terrorists from known danger zones, but simply that we were anti-brown racists. The implication was that this anti-brown racism could spill over into anti-Hinduism. The Hindu American Foundation hurt the sentiments of Whites and Hindu friends of Whites by implying modern Whites were to ignorant and simply wicked to want to know the difference between race and religion.
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| Five Rathas, India |
The point is this, the Fort Bend Country's intentions behind the Ganesh ad were noble and positive for the Hindu community. All the Hindus I know are grateful that members of any mainstream political party are now courting Hindus. Overall, the ad was very respectful and did it's best to present Hindu beliefs and sentiments to the public at large. Yes, the comment about donkeys and elephants was poorly crafted, however this statement was approved by Hindu editors of the India Herald and other Hindu community leaders before the ad was launched. The Hindu American Foundation has done nothing but bring more ill repute upon itself by attacking yet another Hindu created or Hindu approved political ad. Again, it would seem that HAF, when it is perceived that Whites of Republicans are involved, are willing to go against Hindus themselves. This is just further evidence of the deteriorating relationship between HAF and the American Hindu community. If anyone should apologize it is HAF for not only propagating dangerous canards against Whites but taking aim at Hindus when it seems to be politically expedient for them. HAF is already viewed with great suspicion, where there is smoke there is fire. HAF, whether it is true or not, is felt by many Hindus to be, yes, an arm of Left wing globalism, and yes, the fact that this small organization rose up to such power and with such substantial funding is suspicious, especially since they take to qualms about alienating and even targeting Whites and Hindu Americans who do not seem to jive with their perceived political agenda.
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