Trump thinks Hindu is like America. Donald, it isn’t
Per CBS:
"I'm a big fan of Hindu and I'm a big fan of India," Trump told the crowd
Trump spoke about his own projects in India -- “India. You probably know, very successful, wonderful, wonderful partners” -- and he paid tribute to Indian-American contributions to the United States before moving on to the topic of combatting terrorism
No, Donald:
1. Hindu isn’t a reference to anything; Hinduism is a religion; Hindus are people who follow that religion;
2. Hindu is also used as a pronoun — Hindu traditions, Hindu ceremony, Hindu Temple etc
3. No, Your partners are not wonderful. Supriya Sure, the daughter of one of India’s Cabinet Minister — Sharad Pawar owns 9% in Panschil Reality. Mr Pawar is a powerful center-left politician and has been in multiple pay for access controversies (never implicated or indicted though, an unfortunate standard in India). His other India Partner, Lodha Group was founded by Mangal Lodha — a powerful state representative from the Hindu nationalist party [Actually, any real estate deal in India for Trump will be troublesome as he will be no more than 1 or 2 degrees of separation from powerful state or federal government figures; Politicians utilize real estate to peddle their undeclared income]
Also, India is majority Hindu but not exclusive; 11% of India’s population are Muslims. In absolute terms, India is home to 172 Million Muslims (3rd largest amongst all countries)
I am a proud practicing Hindu but learnt from my grandmother and dad to respect other religions; My grandmom was an othrodox Brahmin who was a stickler for rituals. However, when my grandpa wasn’t well, she used to light candles in the church next to the hospital; When we kids got sick, she would get a talisman from the local Mosque.
Trump is an insult to all that she stood for; Trump is an insult to the core tenants of Hinduism
The only glimmer of hope from the session today was that Trump was preceded by a dance performance from Prabhu Deva — India’s finest dancer. Born to a choreographer dad, Prabhu Deva started as background dancer to choreographer before acting and then directing movies. His dance moves from the 1990s are still remembered today. Here is Prabhu Deva in a dance performance in 2015, in his early 40s: