Days After Hindu American Trump Charity Event, Over 25 Hindu Temples & 300 Homes Attacked

In mid-October, the Republican Hindu Coalition held a charity event that hosted thousands of attendees under the theme of Humanity United Against Terror.

US presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke on how the US and India, along with other nations need to work together to defeat ideologically rooted terrorism. He also mentioned how Hindu-American community have shown themselves to be a very peaceful and productive community.  Proceeds from the Hindu-Americans for Trump charity event was said to go to Hindu victims of terrorism (eg. Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and Kashmiri Pandits). We’ll, in the weeks to follow, coincidentally a mob of thousands in Muslim-majority Bangladesh went on a rampage targeting any member of the Hindu minority community across 4 cities.

Fast-forward 3 weeks from the Trump NJ rally, and during the popular Hindu-festival of Diwali, a mob of radical Islamists begun to attack, burn down and rob houses belonging to Hindu families in the town of Brahmanbaria in Bangladesh. Official reports from media, police, government and human rights orgs say that over 25 temples were robbed and destroyed from Oct 31 to Nov 5, 2016 with over 300 houses belonging to Hindu families being destroyed as well. As of Nov 5th, the anti-Hindu riots were still continuing, but across different townships. Police have already already arrested over a dozen attackers and local Islamist organizations have been held responsible. On Saturday morning, Officials found a Lakshmi idol (Lakshmi is a Hindu Goddess symbolizing prosperity & strength) in a local Mosque, which was reported stolen before the nearby temple was destroyed in the attacks.

Although, reports suggest the attacks began due to a Facebook post many Muslims found offensive, one can only wonder if these attacks on Hindus were amplified due to the recent support of Trump by some Hindu-Americans that has been getting relatively large amounts of international attention and media coverage.

We reached out to the Republican Hindu Coalition to see if the proceeds from their charity event would go to these latest Hindu victims of extremist terrorism, but did not receive a response yet.