Hinduphobia in US is real, says Tulsi Gabbard

HINDU-American Tulsi Gabbard has stirred a social media storm when she said that "Hinduphobia is very real" in the US.

The US Congresswoman from Hawaii and a presidential aspirant for the 2020 elections said that she has experienced it (Hinduphobia) in each of her campaigns for the Congress and in the presidential race.

She also said that politicians and the media in the USA not only tolerate it but foment it as well.

"Unfortunately, Hinduphobia is very real. I've experienced it directly in each of my campaigns for Congress & in this presidential race. Here's just one example of what Hindus face every day in our country. Sadly, our political leaders & media not only tolerate it, but foment it," tweeted Tulsi.

She also gave an example reposting a netizen who quoted a Facebook post about a recent exchange between an Uber driver and a client of Hindu origin about the New Delhi unrest.

Reactions to the shared post varied a lot, with critics virtually underpinning Gabbard’s rhetoric, as they called it “fascism”; that Gabbard purportedly supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian nationalism, otherwise known as the ideology of Hindutva.

“I love the Hindi community but this some serious bullshit. You support an ultra-right wing Hindu nationalist fascist and he supports you", one tweeted, with another wading in with a “bootlicker” comment. Many more echoed the stance, dwelling on Gabbard’s alleged down-the-line support for Modi.

In 2002, Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives.

Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009 as Army Military Police platoon leader.

She was a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016, when she resigned to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.