WASHINGTON D.C. (Diya TV) — Sudhir Parikh, an Indian-American doctor and publisher, has severed ties with the “Indian Americans for Trump 2016” group, a faction of folks who are in support of the Republican frontrunner for the 2016 presidential election.
“I allowed myself to be identified with that group,” he said in an emailed statement, “because some members of the group are friends of mine.
“I wish to clarify that I no longer belong to the group and I do not support the candidacy of Mr. Donald Trump,” he added. “For over three decades I have supported both Democrat and Republican candidates based on their individual merits and their commitment to the interests of the Indian-American community and US-India relations,” he wrote.
“I remain committed to this course,” Parikh wrote in conclusion. The founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media had previously been assigned the role as chair of the fundraising and advisory committee for the group, which was formed in January of this year.
Indian Americans for Trump was a spinoff project of Seton Hall University business professor AD Amar, who played an instrumental role in the creation of the “Hindus for Trump” PAC earlier this year. Amar said Trump’s policies on illegal immigration and economy were the main reasons why other Indian Americans should support him.
“On realizing that the agenda of Donald Trump for President 2016 is focused on reviving the American economy, rightly bringing America on the world stage, defeating terrorism and establishing peace through strength, many Indian-Americans believe that he is the best hope for America and the right candidate to be the next President,” Amar’s PAC previously said in a statement.
In a recent blog post, Hindus For Trump also listed what they call ‘evidence that USA Hindus are supporting Trump’.
“Sources estimate that there are between 1.5 million and 2.5 million Hindus living in the USA. But is there any evidence that this growing demographic is organizing to support Trump? Yes! And this support is coming from some of the most influential and widely respected names within the Hindu community,” the blog post said.
The group’s founder, Shalabh Kumar, reportedly “is close to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, [and] has relationships in the Republican Party dating back to the Reagan administration.”
Rishi Bhutada, treasurer of the Hindu American PAC, told Diya TV “Hindus are supporting all sorts of political views. As a group, I don’t think they are supporting one candidate.”
When asked about the deification of Trump in the poster by ‘Hindus for America’, Bhutada called the group “overly enthusiastic” and said “it’s probably not in good taste to cast a Presidential candidate in the same pose as a Hindu deity.”
WASHINGTON D.C. (Diya TV) — Sudhir Parikh, an Indian-American doctor and publisher, has severed ties with the “Indian Americans for Trump 2016” group, a faction of folks who are in support of the Republican frontrunner for the 2016 presidential election.
