- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Tulsi Gabbard Accused of ‘Fascism’ Online After Speaking Out Against Hinduphobia in US

© AP Photo / Mary AltafferDemocratic presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, listens as family members of victims of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 speak during a news conference at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, in New York.
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, listens as family members of victims of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 speak during a news conference at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, in New York. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Hindu-American Tulsi Gabbard, the sole remaining female candidate in the ongoing Dem primary battle, was verbally attacked after saying she has first-hand experience of Hinduphobia in the US. Defenders chimed in though, arguing such a reaction proves she’s got a point.

Hawaii Congresswoman and Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard has been implicated in “fascism” and pressured to quit her presidential campaign after sharing a post about anti-Hindus bias at home.

“Unfortunately, Hinduphobia is very real", Gabbard tweeted on Thursday, saying she felt it both in her congressional and presidential campaigns, especially at the hands of political grandees and the media.

Having pointed this out, she 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.

…while others focused on how the “Hinduphobia may well have been earned".

“She is a fascist and needs to drop out",  asserted Molly Crabapple, a self-described Bernie Sanders supporter, with some others likewise attempting to attribute Gabbard’s retweet to the Democratic primary epic.

BuzzFeed editor Tom Gara, for instance, wrote that the person Gabbard retweeted had earlier complained about “Bernie's campaign having been infiltrated by Islamists", as if Gabbard was responsible and agreed with everything the lady had posted.

The Hindu-American congresswoman’s defenders instantly rushed to point out how the overwhelming criticism below Gabbard’s post is actually proving she is totally right.

“Sad how you cannot talk about hate against Hindus without someone shouting Islamophobia over you, which is the exact type of bigotry Tulsi is pointing out. So everyone in these replies using whataboutism is just proving her point", one stated, with others commenting along the same lines:

“Islamophobia is just made for justifying the terrorist thinking", another said, with some bringing up how the international media “whitewashed” the Muslim community’s actions in New Delhi:

According to journalist Lee Fang, it is “ridiculous” to demand that Gabbard speak on behalf of every Hindu and comment on every instance of sectarian violence:

Fang also pointed out that the current Democrat frontrunner Joe Biden has also “embraced and praised” Modi.

“Weird how there’s virtually no condemnation of Biden & Modi and so much intense vitriol at a congresswoman from a marginalised background", he tweeted.

Gabbard is meanwhile the only female Democrat running for the 2020 presidential nomination since Sen. Elizabeth Warren ended her race on Thursday. However, her race has been poorly covered by mainstream media, with the DNC likewise keeping her away from the debate stage, albeit changing the rules for billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg to partake in the Dem debate.

That detail didn’t go unnoticed on Twitter either:

“I'm not quite sure why you're telling FOX viewers that Elizabeth Warren is the last female candidate in the Dem primary. Is it because you believe a fake indigenous woman of colour is 'real' and the real indigenous woman of colour in this race is fake?” Gabbard tweeted in indignation.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала