31st October 2024: Ahead of Diwali, Donald Trump (now President of the USA) posted on X (formerly Twitter): “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos…We will also protect Hindu Americans against the anti-religion agenda of the radical left.”
Hindus across the globe praised Donald Trump for his condemnation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, emphasising the need for global leaders to address these atrocities against the Hindu community. ISKCON India’s Vice-President; Radharaman Das, voiced strong concerns regarding the silence of global leaders in the face of ongoing violence against Hindus. He highlighted the reports of Hindu women being victimised in Bangladesh, noting that many of the cases involve minors. “In October alone, we witnessed numerous instances of rapes targeting Hindu women, and yet there remains a stark silence from the United Nations and world leaders on this issue,” he said. “I cannot comprehend this indifference”. Das acknowledged Trump’s “historic” contributions to the Hindu community, recounting how he facilitated the first Rath Yatra in the United States in 1978 by providing space for the festival in New York.
Image Credits: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons