It could not have been a more devastating blow to the jagran jhankritis dancing and leaping on the streets of Dallas and Texas, New Jersey and New York, violating local laws and disturbing the neighborhood, to be hit by an avalanche of hate media by horrified residents. Worse, what the Hindutva heavies must have believed were their natural allies, Make America Great Again (MAGA) or President Trump’s ardent followers, were virulent and merciless as they spat invectives on social media asking Indians to go back home.
MAGA members called the festival “un-American” and asked Indians to “Get out of my country” and “Go home and worship your sand demons.”
All this even as Trump lit the traditional lamp on Diwali Day on October 21, in the Oval Office in the White House, before a small gathering of Indo-American community members. Trump’s colleagues from the community were not spared either – FBI Director Kash Patel of Gujarati descent who sent out Diwali greetings on social media was met with derision like “Hellish celebration” and “All I see is river pollution in the name of a festival that has nothing to do with USA” to – and this must have really stung – “Seek Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the light.”
Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, who follows Hinduism was also scorned at with bigoted messages of middle finger emoticons and expressions of disgust and comments like “Not my GOD.” Of course, Trump did not forget to tell his Diwali audience that Prime Minister Modi had told him he would “not buy much oil from Russia” when he called to wish Modi.
The reaction on the ground by residents have gone viral on social media – unruly scenes of fireworks late into the night zigzagging homes have led to houses being burned down in Queens, NY, and Edmonton in Canada. According to media reports, flames engulfed three houses in Queens, rendering the residents distraught and homeless as they lost all their belongings. Surveillance footage shows fireworks shooting directly into a home – it also belonged to a Muslim. Residents called the police all night and the next day saw littered streets with burned fireworks, melted vehicles and burned out houses.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
