‘Hindus for Trump’: Reliable Indian-American Democrats rally behind frontrunner

Special to WorldTribune.com

Indian-Americans, the third-largest ethnic group in the U.S., can usually be counted on to pull the lever for Democrats in national elections.

But 2016 is anything but the usual election. Indian-Americans this year are said to be trending overwhelmingly for GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

American Hindus are strongly supporting Donald Trump. /AP
American Hindus are strongly supporting Donald Trump. /AP

Prior to this election year, as many as 65 percent of Indian-Americans leaned Democratic, making them the Asian-American subgroup most likely to identify with the party, according to a recent study.

This year, however, is a different story as several groups of Indian-Americans, a majority of them Hindus, have formed political action committees (PACS) and created online communities and pages in support of Trump.

One such page on Facebook is “Hindus For Trump”, which says: “American Hindus are model citizens, educated and industrious. We want a responsible nation where Americans are both safe and free.”

The page portrays Trump as Hindu god Vishnu, seating him on what looks like a lotus with “Om” written at its center.

Indian-Americans For Trump 2016, one of the PACs supporting the Republicans candidate, was formed by the members of the American-Hindu community, including Sudhir Parikh, who is the advisory chair for the organization.

Parikh is the owner of Parikh World Media, an umbrella corporation which houses news outlets influential among Hindus such as Desi Talk, the Indian American and the Gujarat Times.

Even some from the Indian-American Muslim community are supporting Trump, undeterred by the leftist media mantra that he is racist against the Muslim community.

Indian-Americans are among the most highly educated racial or ethnic groups in the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center study.

According to the study, Hindus account for 51 percent of the 3.2 million Indian-Americans, while Christians and Muslims comprise 18 and 10 percent, respectively.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login