Tulsi was already pretty controversial after she called a sitting POTUS 'bitch' and 'pimp' but it appears she might be far more controversial than previously thought:
This somewhat surprising tangent came up while looking up old HI election news for another discussion on impact of impeachment on "hate" in America.
October 24, 2019
Russia Accusations a Distraction From Gabbard’s Actual Troubling Ties
Ari Paul
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
When 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (
Campaign HQ,
10/17/19) accused Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a long-shot Democratic primary candidate, of being a Russian-groomed foil, the media reverberations were sweeping. Coverage of the row prompted more coverage, with some
takes defending Gabbard’s moral compass and
others prolonging the obsession with the idea that Russia is interfering in American politics.
Lost in the noise is the reality that Gabbard’s most troubling attribute is her documented connection to the far-right Hindu nationalist, or Hindutva, movement known as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent organization of India’s ruling BJP party.
There is no evidence that Gabbard, who rarely
polls above 3%, is any kind of Russian agent, plucked by Moscow to sway the 2020 election toward the reelection of Donald Trump. But those silly accusations eventually mix into the media as they look to explain how an idiosyncratic candidate like Gabbard can gain the support not only of anti-war leftists who see her as a champion of nonintervention, but also of far-right white nationalists like
David Duke and
Richard Spencer.
NBC (8/2/19) presented Tulsi Gabbard as a possible catspaw of the “Russian propaganda machine.”
The
New York Times (
8/2/19) portrayed her as an idealistic crusader for peace, and then came out (
10/12/19) framing her stances as part of, intentionally or not, a Moscow-led disinformation campaign.
NBC (
2/2/19) sounded the alarm about an “upcoming Russian campaign of support for Gabbard,” saying she had become a favorite of the “Russian propaganda machine.” In a profile in
Rolling Stone (
8/9/19), Matt Taibbi scoffed at Gabbard’s critics, summing her up as “simply opposed to bombing the crap out of, and occupying, foreign countries for no apparent positive strategic objective, beyond enriching contractors.”
Lost between these hit jobs and puff pieces is the RSS’s influence on Gabbard, despite the evidence that this is much more a part of her life than Russian intrigue. The best chronicle of her affiliation with the Indian right comes from the Indian publication
Caravan (
8/1/19).
Religion News Service (
1/27/19) had earlier outlined her connections to Hindu nationalist groups, and how these affected her votes and political positions. The
Intercept (
1/5/19) also covered the issue.
Anyone interested in Gabbard should read these articles in their entirety, but the key take away is this: The RSS draws much of its power from its followers in the Diaspora, and Gabbard has been crucial to revamping the image of the Hindu nationalist in the United States, and has in turn received crucial financial support from the Indian-American far right. (Gabbard, who is of Samoan and European descent, is a practicing Hindu.) Much of that RSS support has come from donations from Indian-Americans who are part of the movement’s US efforts—think of them as like US Zionists who aren’t just pro-Israel, but pro-Likud. “Gabbard’s donors have publicly applauded her for supporting Modi before he was elected, for speaking against the US decision to deny him a visa after 2002 and for working against congressional efforts to recognise human-rights violations in India,” the
Caravan article states.
fair.org/home/russia-accusations-a-distraction-from-gabbards-actual-troubling-ties/
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4-WkCyXsAAXZKP.jpg
Related
Hindu Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard called ‘devil’ by Christian opponent in US election campaign.
Tulsi Gabbard might find US stance on religious freedom a joke
Hindus would be particularly distressed that Tulsi Gabbard, a Vaishnava Hindu and a devotee of Sri Krishna, seeking democratic nomination as a Presidential candidate in 2020, has been relentlessly
attacked over her faith and ridiculed as one from the “Krishna cult.”
The report observes that it’s typical in the United States to demonize persons of Hindu origin as practising a “cult”, as has been the case over the decades with Hindu gurus who racked up millions of devotees in a short time and were thus seen a threat to the Protestant ethos of the land.
This year itself, Swaminarayan Temple in Kentucky was vandalized and black paint was sprayed on the deity as were the words on the wall: “Jesus is the only God.” In April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas met the same
fate but the images sprayed were far more nasty. Same year, two months earlier, Hindu temples in Kent and Seattle Metropolitan area was defaced and trashed.
The report notes with concern that anti-Hindu sentiments aren’t restricted to base and vile attacks from faceless bigots alone in the United States. Media mogul
Pat Robertson calls Hinduism as “demonic”; Evangelical leader
Albert Mohler insults the followers of Hindu faith as demonstrating “Satanic power.” Hindu prayers in US Senate are
disrupted by terming them as “abomination.”
The report also reminds the US State Department about “
dotbusters”—a hate group in New Jersey alluding to “Bindis” on Hindu foreheads. Dotbusters had vowed to take all necessary step to drive Indians out of Jersey City.
The report terms the latest US censure against India as “unfounded” and wonders if it has anything to do with the “foreign funding” to NGOs being scrutinized and impounded by the Modi government, and “missionary” activities of its preachers being impeded.
The report also speculates if US rebuke against India has been nudged by the
pro-Khalistan lobby in the United States and Canada who seek an independent country carved out of India and interestingly has no such demand on Pakistan which has under its control most of Punjab!!! It’s no secret that pro-Khalistani lobby “gifts” more than just goodwill to important political parties and members in the US senate.
ashishshukla.net/tulsi-gabbard-might-find-us-stance-on-religious-freedom-a-joke/
