World
Swarajya Staff
Aug 25, 2016, 02:50 PM | Updated 02:50 PM IST
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A U.S. Congresswoman, with Indian links, is spreading a message of peace and religious tolerance even as she was subjected to racial abuse and ridicule.
In a sign of growing religious intolerance in the U.S., Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the U.S. Congress, came under vicious racial attack from Republican Party member Angela Kaaihue, who believes Gabbard “worships the devil”.
Her Facebook post, which has now been deleted, read in part, “Some Christians say, a vote for Tulsi Gabbard is a vote for Satan, the devil do you agree or disagree?”
Kaaihue also went on to criticise Gabbard’s appearance.
But, Kaaihue is now finding herself increasingly isolated after the Republican party chair Fritz Rohlfing dissociated his party from her attacks. “I want it understood by the general public and the media that the recent inflammatory comments made by Kaaihue do not represent the views, values, or the sentiments of our party and its members,” he said.
“Her vulgar, racially-bigoted, and religiously-intolerant descriptions of Democratic Party candidates are offensive, shameful and unacceptable in public discourse.”
Gabbard, a supporter of Bharatiya Janata Party and its nationalist leader, Narendra Modi, was one of the first two female combat veterans to be elected to U.S. Congress.
She was among the few to criticise the U.S. government’s decision to deny a visa to Modi before he was elected prime minister of India. Gabbard had called the decision a “great blunder.”
Here is a message on building harmony from Tulsi Gabbard on the occasion of Janmashtami.