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Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel: The Hindu Identity of President Trump’s Most Controversial Nominees Comes Into Focus 

Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel: The Hindu Identity of President Trump’s Most Controversial Nominees Comes Into Focus 

  • While the Indian American nominated to head the FBI was born into a Hindu family, the former Hawaii congresswoman, the nominee to head the national intelligence, embraced Hinduism as a teenager and made it a central part of her identity.

Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel, two of President Trump’s most controversial nominees had their confirmation hearing today. While they are among the presidents picks who have made headlines for their past comments, casting doubts over their confirmations, they both happen to identify as Hindus, though their paths to the religion differ.

Patel was born into a Hindu family, while Gabbard embraced Hinduism as a teenager and made it an integral part of her identity. And though not an Indian, the former Hawaii congresswoman has become a darling of those who identify themselves as Hindu Americans, particularly as Hindu Nationalists in America.

Patel was born and raised in Garden City, New York, to parents with Gujarati roots who immigrated from East Africa, and came to the U.S. in 1970. Although the family maintained cultural and religious traditions, Patel has not been particularly vocal about his Hindu faith in his public career. But in several interviews and interactions he has admitted that his Indian roots and Hindu heritage is an integral part of his identity.

Jai Shri Krishna

Pate’s Hindu heritage was front and center at his confirmation hearing today, when he greeted  his parents with “Jai Shri Krishna.” It is a common greeting among Gujaratis, because it is a way to invoke the blessings of Lord Krishna, who is considered particularly significant in the culture. 

Gabbard’s path to Hinduism is unique. She was raised in a multi-faith household. As a teenager, she felt a deep connection to Hindu philosophy, particularly the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Inspired by its message of selfless duty (karma yoga) and devotion (bhakti yoga), she made a conscious decision to embrace Hinduism fully.

Unlike Patel, Gabbard has made her Hindu faith a part of her public and political identity. She has often spoken about her faith, taken her oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita, and championed religious freedom and pluralism. She follows the Vaishnava tradition, which emphasizes devotion to Krishna, and has integrated Hindu values into her worldview, particularly in areas of public service and leadership.

She has often called out hate and racist bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. At her confirmation hearing today, she blasted the critics and invited them to understand her spiritual path. “Unfortunately there are still some Democrat senators who still don’t understand the principle of freedom of religion and Article 6 of the Constitution,” she said. She accused the Democrats of “using the religious bigotry card but this time to foment the religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism.”

During her presidential run, she alleged that some media outlets were targeting her and accusing her supporters of being Hindu nationalists. In a January 2019 op-ed for the Religious News Services, she pointed to the accusation against her of being a Hindu nationalist. “My meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s democratically elected leader, have been highlighted as ‘proof’ of this and portrayed as somehow being out of the ordinary or somehow suspect, even though President [Barack] Obama, Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, President [Donald] Trump and many of my colleagues in Congress have met with and worked with him.”

Last month, Gabbard visited the  BAPS Akshardham temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey to observe the 103rd birth anniversary of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Addressing approximately 2,000 people, she  expressed wonder at the spiritual significance of the temple and the exquisite carvings and sculptures that adorn it.

“It’s been a wonderful breath of fresh air to finally come and visit this incredible and historic Akshardham temple, and to be able to hear about the many thousands of hands and hearts that went into building this iconic temple,” she said. She talked about walking through the sprawling temple complex, and seeing the meaning behind “every single one of those sculptures — the most big and magnificent and even the small etchings — of some of the most famous stories about Krishna and Arjuna from the Bhagavad Gita.” 

Loyalty to Trump and Modi

There’s not much written about Patel’s views on India and Hinduism. A 2022 report in The Times of India mentioned Patel’s comment’s after the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. During the temple consecration, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed concerns, telling Voice of America they were “troubled” by the construction of the temple. Several mainstream publications here reported the news, but Patel accused them of “only covering the past 50 years of history.”

“They forgot the 500 preceding years,” he told the Hindustan Times during a February 2024 interview. “Whether or not you are Hindu or Muslim, there was a Hindu temple there for one of the quintessential gods in the Hindu pantheon in 1500 that was toppled, and they have been trying to get it back for 500 years,” he added.  “But the Washington establishment forgot that part of history to put on what I believe is a disinformation campaign that’s harmful to India and the PM’s position,” he said. “And they’re using that because I think they liken Trump and Modi as kind of similar figures, and the establishment class in Washington doesn’t want that to be the case.”

Patel was part of the contingent that accompanied Trump during his visit to India in February 2020, describing it to the Hindustan Times as “just amazing being an Indian-American and witnessing this.” He said both Trump and Modi had “profound mutual respect and engagement at a very detailed level,” talking about the relationship between the two leaders. “The two world leaders were not just reading off cheat sheets, they were engaged, they didn’t need notes, they didn’t need teams to surround them,” he said, adding, “they worked together for the good of their countries.”

On the other hand, Gabbard is a Modi admirer, and had openly criticized Washington’s decision to ban Modi’s visa owing to his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. Further, in December 2013, she had voiced her opposition to the House Resolution 417 which criticized India for failing to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities.

In 2019, after meeting Modi in New York, she released a statement noted that the two had “a productive conversation about the importance of the U.S.-India relationship.” A a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, she further noted that the discussions included “the need to continue to work together to address the pressing issues that impact us and the world — like combating climate change and protecting our environment, improving the economic well-being of our people, increasing trade, counterterrorism efforts, and preventing nuclear war and nuclear proliferation.”

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She also has considerable support from Hindu nationalist organizations in America like The Hindu American Foundation and former Ohio State Sen. Niran Antani, a Republican, who commended her for becoming “the highest ranking Hindu American in the White House in American history.”

Path to Hinduism

Gabbard’s Hindu identity made headlines this week as the confirmation hearing approached. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that during her Congressional run, her campaign paid the Washington, D.C.,-based Potomac Square Group to cleanup about her connection with the Science of Identity Foundation (SIJ). The sect, founded by Gabbard’s guru Chris Butler, now known as Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahams. 

Gabbard’s parents were members of the sect.

According to The Journal, SIF is “tied to a direct-marketing firm — QI Group — accused of running a pyramid scheme in several countries.” The PR company’s operation “to clean up” Gabbard’s image, was “directed by a Science of Identity follower—and longtime Gabbard adviser—who sits on the board of a QI subsidiary,” the report added. According to The Journal “the revelations shed further light on Gabbard’s ties to the religious group and the Hong Kong-based QI “which has been a target of criminal and civil cases alleging fraud and racketeering in at least seven countries.”

Butler was an early disciple of AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who left India for New York in 1965 and founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness the next year to promote Hindu practices in the West. But he eventually split from ISKCON after “disputes” with Prabhupada, The Journal said. He thencreated SIF “where he was free to break with tradition and teach that devotees didn’t have to shave their heads,” The Journal said. 

Butler also founded Independents for Godly Government where he “promoted a politicized form of Hinduism,” and “backed conservative candidates for offices in Hawaii,” The Journal said. In 1991, Gabbard’s parents created their own SIF-aligned activist group called Stop Promoting Homosexuality. In 1995, they founded the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, which promoted an amendment to prevent same-sex marriage that was passed in Hawaii in 1998.

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