A new Trump card for Hindu fascists

In India, the news of Trump’s election success has been met with jubilation and a great sense of alleviation

The world at large, across geographical and ethnic divides, is still coming to terms with Donald Trump’s win in the US amid a looming fear of the unknown. However, in India, the world’s largest democracy, the news of Trump’s election success has been met with jubilation and a great sense of alleviation. As the news of Trump’s victory broke, activists of the Hindu Sena or the Hindu Army and others took to the streets dancing to drum beats and distributed sweets. Vishnu Gupta, president of the Hindu Sena, described Trump as “the saviour” in a hope “he will act against Islamists”. In October 2015, Gupta was arrested for stoking anti-Muslim riots after falsely claiming beef had been served at a government canteen.



Many of the pro-Trump celebrations have been financed by wealthy Non-Resident Indian Hindus, who have been traditionally rabidly anti-Muslim and financed extremist Hindu groups inside India for a long time but kept a low profile. This changed soon after 9/11 as anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia gained currency and acceptance in the US and Europe. Prior to the Gujrat pogrom of 2002, in which more than 2,000 Muslim civilians were brutally murdered and more than a quarter of a million displaced, money raised by Hindu groups in the West was used to buy thousands of arms that were used as murder weapons.

Hindu extremists have been praying for Donald Trump’s victory ever since his anti-Muslim and anti-Islam rhetoric came to the fore. It galvanised a large force of Hindus across continents – from educated and highly successful mainly North Indian immigrants to commoners on the streets of India, joined by their common hatred against Muslims and Pakistan. In June, some groups celebrated Trump’s birthday by placing large portraits of him between Hindu gods amid chants in Sanskrit. "Trump is about to become the king of the world... How will we attack Pakistan without his support?" Vinod Gupta said. While hailing him as a ‘hero’, another Hindu group likened him to the fabled shapeshifting monkey-god, Hanuman, who supported Lord Rama in his wars against Ravana, a demon king vilified and despised in North India but revered and worshiped in the South Indian strand of Hinduism.



Back in May when few people had reposed faith in Trump, Hindu groups carried a havan, a several-hour-long blessing ceremony. One of the organisers at the time said: “We believe Islam and Islamic terror are cancerous to the world. Trump believes the same thing. That is why we are praying for his victory.” The rationale of these groups for opposing Hillary Clinton was clear: “She talks secularism and has said nothing about tackling Muslims. Only Trump has a plan.” At one occasion, a well-known extremist Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad, praised Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from travelling to the US. On November 8, the Election Day, the Hindu Sena organised a three-hour prayer ceremony to influence a plethora of gods in favour of Trump. In early October, the group praised Nathuram Godse, a Hindu terrorist who had murdered Mahatma Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, for his less than ideal posturing against Muslims.

Soon after Trump’s victory, The Hindu American Foundation, an ‘advocacy organisation’ of extremist persuasion, hoped to engage with the president-elect on Kashmir. While conveniently overlooking the ongoing brutal Indian state terrorism, it listed “Pakistan’s proxy war in Kashmir and violence against Hindu minorities in Kashmir” as its concerns.



Amid the frenzied jubilation across India, there is a growing fear in Kashmir that Hindu extremists spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi might form a new US-India alliance. This will stoke more terror as Muslims are increasingly targeted by Hindu non-state actors. This year alone, dozens of Muslim have been killed on mere suspicion of carrying or eating beef or suspected of being in love with Hindu girls. For Kashmiris, the sense of unease has turned into a full blown horror as Hindu extremist groups in the US are increasingly targeting Kashmiris and casting their political struggle as ‘Islamic terrorism’ while the Indian state is engaged in a ruthless genocide against them. “We fear the Trump victory will embolden India vis-à-vis Kashmir to carry out its genocide with impunity and without any international scrutiny,” said a pro-freedom Kashmiri leader from the Hurriyat Conference, the main political conglomerate fighting Indian occupation.

Murtaza Shibli is a journalist, author and communications and security specialist. He keeps shuttling between London, Lahore and Srinagar, Kashmir. He tweets @murtaza_shibli