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Donald Trump was helped by the Republican Hindu Coalition; here's how
Business Standard ^ | November 11, 2016 | Bhaswar Kumar

Posted on 11/11/2016 12:33:01 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster

Donald Trump was helped by the Republican Hindu Coalition; here's how

While the RHC provided material support to Trump, India's Hindu Sena group cheered his cause from oceans away

Bhaswar Kumar | New Delhi

November 11, 2016 Last Updated at 08:34 IST

Donald Trump’s surprise victory on Wednesday in the bitterly contested US presidential election might have shocked people the world over, but there were people, aside from those who voted for him, who have found a cause for joy. In particular, Indian right-wing group, the Hindu Sena, celebrated in Delhi as projections trickling in showed Trump leading Clinton in the race to the Oval Office.

Pictures of the celebration showed posters proclaiming 'India loves Trump'. This was not the first time the group expressed its preference for Trump’s victory, in an election which the group itself had no real stake in.

The American Hindu community also had a reason to cheer as Trump gave his acceptance speech after scripting a historic upset.

Less than a month before the election results, over 5,000 Indian-Americans had gathered in Edison, New Jersey, to cheer for Trump.

At the charity event organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition that was attended by the then Republican presidential nominee, Indian celebrities like Prabhu Deva, Shriya Saran and Sophie Chaudhry had enthralled the audience.

Indian-Americans looking to amplify their voice in the US politics launched the Republican Hindu Coalition in November last year, to bring the entire community on one platform and advance policies important to the community’s members.

“Having watched the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) work to achieve its goals, and after conferring with many prominent Hindu Americans, I was inspired to found the RHC (Republican Hindu Coalition),” the group’s founder Shalabh ‘Shalli’ Kumar, the chairman and CEO of the AVG Group of Companies, had said in his inaugural address.

An article from the wire.in explained the Trump-Hindu convergence as a result of the coming together of India’s right wing ideologies and the post-9/11 narrative that Islam was a danger to the Western civilisation. The report revealed that Shalabh Kumar had personally donated close to a million dollars to the Trump campaign.

Days before the election result, on November 1, the coalition released a political ad titled ‘Crooked Hillary – Vote for Republican, Vote for US-India Relation’. The ad, the report said, painted Hillary Clinton as a pro-Pakistan, pro-Islamic terrorism, anti-Narendra Modi candidate.

Trump, the article argued, had effectively played to the fears of some American Indians, predominantly Hindu, regarding terrorism, immigration and Pakistan-US relations.

In September, Trump had good things to say about the community – a rarity, given his overt hostility against non-white communities in his campaigns.

"The Hindu community has made fantastic contributions to the world civilisation and to American culture and we look forward to celebrating our shared values of free enterprise, hard work, family values, and a strong American foreign policy,” Trump had said in a statement.

While some Hindus in America might have provided real support to Trump, the Hindu Sena in India was not to be outdone.

In June this year, after holding a havan to pray for Trump’s victory, the group celebrated the real estate mogul’s birthday at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

A colourful open invite sporting the face of Trump surrounded by balloons, said "join us and let's celebrate the birthday of the saviour of humanity, the Republican presidential nominee of the United States of America”.

The group’s leader, Vishnu Gupta, had then said: "We are celebrating his birthday because he is our hero. We wish that he lives for thousands of years and removes the Islamic terrorism from this entire world." And, in what could have only been a shot in the dark, Gupta had predicted that Trump would surely win, come November.

However, whereas Gupta and his cohorts could at best provide vocal support from across the seas, RHC made material contributions. According to an Economic Times report, the RHC contributed a total of 1.5 million dollars to the Trump campaign and held 50 meetings in the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.

Despite such vocal support from members of the community, and Trump's victory, polls taken before the election showed that only seven per cent of the Indian-American population in the US planned on voting for Trump.

http://thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hindus-for-Trump_Facebook.jpg

http://previews.123rf.com/images/fcks/fcks1410/fcks141000171/33098656-Vector-Elephant-on-the-Henna-Indian-Ornament-Stock-Vector-elephant-hindu-india.jpg


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: coalition; hindu; hindus; hindusena; india; indianamericans; islam; republican; trump
In a nutshell, the common denominator between Trump and Hindu nationalists is the stance against Islam aggression.

They have this poster of Trump:


1 posted on 11/11/2016 12:33:01 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Since GOP symbol is an elephant, GOP might as well adopt a Hindu elephant as another alternate mascot:


2 posted on 11/11/2016 12:35:42 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster (alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

They caste their votes and Shitlery was sari.

...


3 posted on 11/11/2016 12:42:14 AM PST by mindburglar (When Superman and Batman fight, the only winner is crime.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Isn’t that Ganesh? A god in the hindu pantheon?

http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordganesha/a/ganesha.htm

Commenting on Trump’s affinity towards India. I think Indians are natural when it comes to being hosts. It’s very well likely that in the Hotel business Trump has often come in contact with them and has learned that they are predominantly good people.


4 posted on 11/11/2016 12:43:27 AM PST by Fhios (In the end Hillary, MSM, and Obama were beat by Trumps pure strategic genius.)
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To: mindburglar

Just trying to curry favor with the Donald..


5 posted on 11/11/2016 12:43:47 AM PST by Ahithophel (Communication is an art form susceptible to sudden technical failures)
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To: Fhios
I think this is a generic elephant with Indian decoration. The elephant god looks different, has more human appearance.
6 posted on 11/11/2016 12:46:42 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster (alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater)
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To: Ahithophel

Ha!


7 posted on 11/11/2016 12:47:20 AM PST by mindburglar (When Superman and Batman fight, the only winner is crime.)
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To: Fhios

Trump Tower Mumbai. There is another project too. Look it up. ;-)


8 posted on 11/11/2016 12:53:41 AM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget (God punishes Conservatives by making them argue with fools. Go Trump!)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miuLgH72wyE


9 posted on 11/11/2016 12:57:29 AM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget (God punishes Conservatives by making them argue with fools. Go Trump!)
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To: Fhios

Eh.. also Radical Islam is a existential threat for India. Thus Trump vs. Obama / Hillary was a no-brainer for most Hindus.


10 posted on 11/11/2016 1:43:29 AM PST by LoneCrusader
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To: TigerLikesRooster

What about all those 7-11’s in Delaware?
They took down the state by state numbers.
Nationally, it was purple 40%, Democrat 31%, Republican 29%.


11 posted on 11/11/2016 2:39:53 AM PST by scrabblehack
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To: scrabblehack
The article shows the Hindu nationalist angle of Trump support. It does seem that Hindus have vocal active supporters of Republicans Party.
12 posted on 11/11/2016 2:55:09 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster (alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

a rarity, given his overt hostility against non-white communities in his campaigns...

Another lie. They just keep pushing the same lies and strawmen.

Nameste.


13 posted on 11/11/2016 3:03:42 AM PST by Adder (I will NEVER be ruled by the blood dripping Red Queen!)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Amazing....the Hindus and the Amish (OH and PA) won this for Trump??


14 posted on 11/11/2016 3:50:07 AM PST by grania
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To: All

Thank you to our Hindu allies!


15 posted on 11/11/2016 5:16:29 AM PST by Maverick68
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To: grania
Amazing....the Hindus and the Amish (OH and PA) won this for Trump??

Self-preservation, a counter-balance to the Muslims who, egged on by CAIR, voted heavily for Hillary.

16 posted on 11/11/2016 5:27:18 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: TigerLikesRooster

The Paisley Pachyderm!


17 posted on 11/11/2016 5:28:04 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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