Taking strong exception to White House trade advisor Peter Navarro’s recent remarks like ‘Brahmins profiting,’ American Hindu group has sought his dismissal terming his remarks as Hinduphobic and culturally insensitive.
HinduPACT’s American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD), a Hindu advocacy group, has sought his dismissal from President Donald Trump’s team, describing his recent remarks as “inappropriate” and “weaponised Hindu phobia.” The Hindu group objected to Navarro’s reference to caste and his “portrayal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a sacred act of Hindu prayer”. In its press release, the AHAD said, “Navarro’s rhetoric constitutes not only a cultural violation but also a reckless provocation that endangers the dignity of over a billion Hindus and threatens the foundational relationship between the two largest democracies.”
The group criticised Navarro’s comments about “Brahmins profiting at the expense of the Indian people”, calling it a colonial stereotype. “It’s not a critique; it’s a colonial-era trope recycled to divide Hindu society and depict India as inherently unjust,” the group said. Ajay Shah, executive chair of HinduPACT, said, “This is not foreign policy. It’s weaponised Hinduphobia.” He added that dividing Hindus through colonial ideas does not build relationships; it destroys them. “People like Navarro have no place in American political life,” he said.
The group bloc also slammed Navarro for sharing a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in saffron robes. It said the picture was shared to mock Hindu spirituality while exerting economic pressure on India.
Commenting on the picture, HinduPACT president Deepti Mahajan said, “If the target was the Hindu faith, that’s religious hostility. If the target was India’s leadership, that’s diplomatic recklessness. Either way, it’s a serious violation.”
American Hindus Against Defamation or AHAD) is a Hindu advocacy and watchdog group dedicated to addressing and countering defamation, misrepresentation, and prejudice against Hinduism, its symbols, icons, and culture. Founded in 1997 as an initiative of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), it is now part of a larger advocacy organisation, HinduPACT. The strong reaction came after Navarro’s utterances against India for buying Russian oil. He had reportedly said “Brahmins” are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people and it needs to “stop”.
“Look (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is a great leader,” Navarro, the Trump administration’s Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, said in an interview with Fox News. The trade adviser said he does not understand how the Indian leader is cooperating with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “when he’s the biggest democracy in the world”.