A day after US presidential nominee Donald J. Trump said in a New York event that he loves the Hindus and India, not far from New York, in Philadelphia another group of Hindus were silently scripting together a brand new political coalition. Led by Hindu activists Satya Dosapati, Arvind Kumar, African American activist Bruce Carter, it brought together for the first time Hindu, African, Chinese, Hispanic, Korean and Jewish Americans together under the banner of the “All American Rally for Trump” spelling a new age of minority political activism in America. Among them they already represent a substantial voting population in US.
While Hindus in America represent the highest income group among all religious groups, yet very little political activism has been seen around them. The community in America, though extremely educated, having the maximum number of university educated members and who are extremely entrepreneurial has rarely shown any inclination in politics so far. Thereby the community boasts of very few Representatives in the Congress or the Senate. Similar communities having high levels of education and entrepreneurship, like the Jewish American community, have made their presence felt in both political parties. This is exactly what Satya Dosapati and Arvind Kumar wants to change.
While both these Hindu activists have a huge enthusiasm for Civil Rights issues, building a political coalition of minorities in America has also been their lifelong dream. “After what we saw at Charlotte, Ferguson and Chicago,we could not stay back. We need to make the world free of racism and Hindu Americans being a high income population in America need to take the lead in bringing together all minority communities together to build a racism free America. Indians have suffered historically from racism. We understand the pain. Also as a Hindu my fundamental belief is spiritual equality of all irrespective of race and gender and that is what is the essence of my activism is. We have to do everything possible in this generation to end the concept of race based demarcations. Children belonging to the African American and Latino community need education and empowerment urgently. The extreme levels of poverty in these communities is unacceptable. Dr. King’s dreams have remained far from being realized and we need to do everything possible to realize it. Successive democratic dispensations have failed in this regard. Donald J. Trump is a non establishment candidate and holds out great hope in this regard ” said Satya Dosapati
African American activist Bruce who had previously worked to rally the community for Bernie Sanders was in deep praise of the efforts by the Hindu leadership. The rally attracted many Chinese Americans. The coming together of communities hailing from two so-called Asian rivals in US, may also send strong reverberations to the leadership in the respective countries to build bonds of co-operation. It is bound to open up new avenues of co-operation in the political sphere among people representing very ancient civilizations. Latino singer Ruben Obed from Puerto Rico also enthralled the gathering with songs of revolutionary fervor and hailed coming together of the coalition with great hope for the Latino community.
Arvind Kumar, a technology entrepreneur and also an organizer of the rally urged voters to vote for Trump. “We have a deep entrenched establishment in America which is rooting for Hillary. The Clintons have a quarter century history of being detrimental to the interests of India , Asia at large and for the entire world. Look at what they have done in Haiti. Look at what they have done in Iraq ,Syria and Libya. Global capture of power, looting and escalation of global terrorism has been the hallmark of this globalist establishment. Within America under their successive establishment regimes, minority communities like African Americans and Latinos have suffered. They have remain stuck in poverty and with lack of education and jobs. Domestic terrorism has become a routine affair. We need Trump to become the President to change all that.” Support for the coalition rally came from various minority groups in America as well. The Yezidis, a community ravaged by the ISIS in Iraq, with many Yezidi women been taken away by ISIS as sex slaves lent support to the rally.
While minority population is increasingly on the rise in America, the emergence of Hindu activists in politics to serve interests of the community and the society at large in America is a new development. As India is emerging as an economic powerhouse on the world stage,the emergence of the Hindu leadership in America holds deep symbolism. What a historic rally at the equally historic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia beholds before us is only for time to tell. But the coming together of a minority political coalition in America led by the Hindus is a space definitely something to watch out for.
