Kamala and Usha: Indian Christians in the U.S. Are Wary of Indian American Political Success

This year’s elections will not put a Hindu in the White House, but the 2024 campaign has highlighted the growing influence of the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus on U.S. politics. 

At the top, though she identifies as a Christian, Democratic candidate and current vice president Kamala Harris is the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, a Brahmin (the highest caste in Hinduism) immigrant from India. On the Republican side, Usha Vance, nee Chilukuri, wife of Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance, is also from the Brahmin Hindu community. 

Nationally, five Indian Americans serve in Congress. Nearly 50 hold seats in state legislatures, the majority Hindu, though several are Sikh or Muslim. 

The growing presence of Hindu Americans in U.S. politics is a relatively new development. Though Dalip Singh Saund became the first Indian American elected to Congress in 1957, the number of Indian Americans in politics only began to increase in the last decade. In September 2023, representative Shri Thanedar, a Democrat, launched the controversial Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain American caucus. 

This swift rise in political participation and leadership is particularly striking given the community’s relatively small size. The population of Hindu Americans is about 2.5 million, or slightly less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. The community’s influence transcends its headcount, largely because its overwhelmingly high socioeconomic status gives Hindu Americans the potential to make large contributions to political campaigns. In 2022, the median income for Indian American households was $145,000.

“There was always a Hindu vote, which was not recognized publicly,” Democratic strategist Ramesh Kapur told The Universal News Network in March, “but it is being recognized now.” 

But rather than celebrate the success of Indian Americans in U.S. politics, back in India, as Hindu nationalism continues to strengthen, many Christians are nervous about the political priorities of the largely Hindu contingency across the Pacific. Some worry that right-wing Indian groups will encourage the U.S. to engage in India without holding the country accountable for religious freedom abuses against Muslims and Christians. 

Rajesh Sampath, a philosophy professor at Brandeis University and a former Hindu who converted to Catholicism, said he worried “about the uncritical acceptance of the Indian American rise.” Not questioning candidates’ positions on Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, and ensuring that they are not under the influence of right-wing nationalism “could have adverse effects on civil rights, not only for Indian Christians in India but also in terms of race and equality here in the U.S..”

Hindu American Power Play

Hindu elected officials have served as both Democrats and Republicans and, in general, hold a number of perspectives on domestic policies. But their advocacy, or lack thereof when it comes to religious freedom of religious minorities in India, is what worries Indian and Indian American Christians. 

For instance, both Democrats and Republicans have approved millions in arms deals to India while stalling efforts to designate it as a Country of Particular Concern by the US State Department, explained Neal Christie, the executive director of the Federation of Indian American Christian Organization. 

(This designation is given to any country that the U.S. government officially identifies as having systematic and severe violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.)

Meanwhile, in Congress, a resolution supporting Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who died in custody in 2022 while imprisoned under anti-terror laws and condemning the Indian government’s treatment of political prisoners, has not made it out of a committee since it was introduced in July. Christie attributes this hesitation to “many lawmakers’ vested economic interests in India and their fear of backlash from Hindu nationalists in their constituencies.”

“Politicians in the U.S., particularly Hindu ones, make a lot of noise when it comes to the attacks on Hindu temples in the U.S., but when it comes to the suffering of minorities in India, such as the demolition of churches in Manipur, we don’t see the same level of concern,” said Allen Brooks, a spokesman of the Assam Christian Forum. 

As American leaders have increasingly seen China as the biggest threat to America’s geopolitical future, many have warmed to India. To that end, both Democrats and Republicans “have cultivated significant ties with Hindu nationalists for geopolitical gains, prioritizing trade and industrial relationships in South Asia over the pressing issue of religious freedom for minorities,” said Sampath. 

Since first sending Narendra Modi into national office in 2014, supporters of Hindutva have exported their ideology overseas. In the US, Hindu American groups supporting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishva Hindu Parishad have aggressive political outreach strategies in the United States.

These organizations promote a worldview that largely aligns with portions of the Republican platform regarding nationalism, traditional values, and defense of cultural identity, said John Dayal, a veteran human rights activist and spokesman for the All India Catholic Union. Dayal believes these groups have helped Hindu Americans find political success in American politics.

“Their main role for the moment is exonerating Prime Minister Modi and cleansing his image as well as that of other polarizing leaders from the Hindu right wing.”  

What is more concerning, according to Dayal, is the “power wielded by affluent upper-caste Indian Americans in both politics and the corporate sector.” If Indian CEOs of US companies adopted right-wing political ideologies, “the power they could exert would be alarming,” Dayal said. “The access that the Hindu right wing has to the corporate sector and to the politicians in America is a very dangerous thing.” 

The growing influence of Hindu American groups, as well as politicians, has also raised concerns about their potential impact on US foreign policy, particularly regarding religious freedom in India. 

Of particular concern has been the admiration and endorsement of Modi by the Hindu American politician Vivek Ramaswamy, who was one of the Republican presidential candidates. After terming Modi an “excellent” prime minister and an “outstanding leader” in July 2023, Ramaswamy repeated praises of Modi as recently as September 2024 and credited him for “restoring Indian national pride” while making no mention of the abysmal human and minority rights record under Modi that critics repeatedly raise. 

Christie questions how Hindu American legislators can align with values like tolerance, respect, and fairness if they legitimize a nationalist or exclusionary agenda in India.

Dayal shares similar concerns about both Hindu American politicians and Hindu groups in the U.S. like the Hindu America Foundation, who has been accused of lobbying on behalf of the Indian government and having a relationship with far right organizations. 

“When Hindutva, Modi, or the Sangh Parivar [family of Hindutva organizations] come under scrutiny in America, through reports of the USCIRF or through the work of advocacy groups, Hindu outfits like Hindu America Foundation (HAF), which have close ties with many Hindu American politicians, sanitize their sinister deeds, demonize the source of the scrutiny, and let extreme right NRIs [non-resident Indians] emerge as spokespeople for the community in the U.S.”

A recent report released by the Political Research Associates accuses the HAF of showing two different faces. While presenting itself publicly as a mainstream civil rights organization in American society, it has simultaneously opposed protections against caste discrimination, expressed prejudice against Muslims, and shown clear support for Modi’s BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Through this dual approach, the report states, HAF has been able to introduce these ideas into American institutional spaces where they previously would not have been welcome or taken seriously.

These groups, like HAF, “capitalize [use it for their advantage] on fears of radical Muslims,” says Christie, which he sees as “stereotypical and racist.” They also perpetuate negative portrayals of Indian Christians as “Rice Christians,” accusing them of forced conversions and spreading harmful stereotypes. (“Rice Christians” or “Rice Bag” is a slur used against Christians in India alleging that they converted to Christianity for a bag of rice.)

The Shifting Indian Vote

In the 2020 election, 74 percent of Indian Americans voted, making them among the most politically engaged communities of all US ethnic groups. Traditionally a Democratic-leaning community, Indian Americans are beginning to show signs of political realignment. According to a 2023 Pew Research study, while 68 percent identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, an emerging 29 percent now identifies as Republican—a trend that has caught the attention of both sides of the aisle. 

The biannual Asian American Voter Survey released in July 2024 showed that the number of Indian Americans planning to vote for Joe Biden dropped almost 20 points—from 65 percent in 2020 to 46 percent in 2024. While the survey didn’t ask respondents if they would vote for Harris, it did find that 54 percent of Indian American voters said they had a somewhat favorable or very favorable impression of the vice president.

Some Hindu Americans who felt that Harris’s positions on religious freedom, India-US relations, and minority rights were not in their best interests have criticized Harris’s (and Biden’s) policies and politics. A section of Hindu American voters also has misgivings that she “failed to connect with them in her previous campaigns for president and vice president.” Hindu right-wing publications have clearly rejected her identity as an Indian or a Hindu in the past, and she has been accused of not trying hard enough to reach out to mainstream Hindu organizations.

Political scientist Sangay Mishra notes that Hindu Americans are increasingly framing their political choices around support for India, viewing Democratic criticism of India’s policies as hostile to Hindu interests. This sentiment is echoed by activists like Utsav Sanduja, who launched the Hindus for America First PAC, arguing that “the Hindu voice, unfortunately, has been kind of hijacked by woke elements” and that Democratic “human rights lectures” risk alienating India from America.

A group of Hindu donors has also been pushing the Biden-Harris campaign to include a dedicated “Hindu page” in its 2024 manifesto, similar to sections included in earlier campaigns tailored to Muslim, Jewish, and African American voters. 

On the Republican side, candidates like Ohio state lawmaker Niraj Antani have been proactive in highlighting their Hindu faith, presenting themselves as protectors of religious freedom and traditional values. Antani, in campaign messaging, frequently references his Hindu identity, perhaps most recently by praising the opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, India, a common nationalist Hindu refrain. 

Diaspora’s Divided Voice

Last year, Modi met with Biden several weeks after more than 200 Christians died due to violence in the Indian state of Manipur. Indian Americans and several civil rights and interfaith leaders protested these attacks, as well as the Indian government’s increased restrictions on the press and civil society, in front of the White House. 

After a video of a mob celebrating a sexual assault in Manipur went viral, Indian Americans and Indian expats took to the streets in cities in six American states, and more than 700 Indian Christians prayed for peace and justice in front of the UN. 

The Indian Christian diaspora in the U.S. could play a significant role in the complex political landscape surrounding religious freedom, but “because the Indian Christian diaspora is diverse ethnically and socio-economically and has not come to a common consensus on its commitment to human rights in the US and globally, they stay very quiet,” Christie said. He noted that many in this community stay quiet out of fear for their financial stability, property, and the safety of their families, and worry about losing their Indian citizenship.

“Indian American Christians are a minority within the minority,” Sampath said. “You’re caught between these worlds, trying to survive as an Indian Christian minority within the larger Indian diaspora.”

Christie believes that Indian American Christians have a responsibility to advocate for more than just their own interests. 

“If we benefit Muslims, Christians will benefit,” he said. “If we benefit Christians, Muslims and Hindus will benefit. Human rights is not a zero-sum game.”

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Surinder Kaur is the South Asia Editor at Christianity Today. She has been writing on religion and politics in South Asia for nearly two decades. This article was first published in Christianity Today and republished here with permission.