BY JAROD FACUNDO / The American Prospect
Dignitaries and public officials march in a previous year’s Indian Independence Day Parade, organized by the Indian Business Association, in Edison and Woodbridge, New Jersey, August 2007.
In August, the Indian Business Association (IBA), a collection of Indian business owners in Edison, New Jersey, hosted an Indian Independence Day Parade. The event featured the typical floats and local business showcases, along with Indian flags to celebrate 75 years of independence from the British Empire.
But midway through the parade, footage shows a yellow wheel loader, emblazoned with a picture of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (leader of the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP) and the controversial Indian politician Yogi Adityanath, also known as “Bulldozer Baba.” This vehicle, a symbolic stand-in for a bulldozer, is a signal of support for Hindutva, a far-right ethnonationalist ideology that calls for purging non-Hindus from India.
Days after the Edison incident, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) and the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) condemned the bulldozer’s appearance. “In India, 200 million Muslims are at risk of mass violence from a radicalized majority population,” IAMC said. “Marching with these bulldozers shows support for forced homelessness and mass violence against a vulnerable minority.”
CAIR-NJ asked local officials “to condemn these acts of hatred and block Hindu nationalists and the BJP’s attempts to interfere in local New Jersey politics.” Edison’s Mayor Sam Joshi, himself an Indian American, responded: “I want to be clear that any symbol or action that represents discrimination is unwelcome in Edison Township as we are committed to celebrating and working in harmony with people from all cultures.”
In response, the IBA offered its “sincere apologies” because the bulldozer is a “blatant divisive symbol” for Indian American minority groups across New Jersey and the rest of the United States. The letter ends by committing to never allowing such symbols in the future. New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez issued a joint statement condemning the use of the bulldozer. “The bulldozer has come to be a symbol of intimidation against Muslims and other religious minorities in India, and its inclusion in this event was wrong.”
This parade gone wrong in New Jersey illuminates how Democrats across the country have struggled to navigate a polarizing religious and political environment among the Indian American community, whose fractures have forced Democrats to jockey between competing groups. Sources tell the Prospect that during a nationwide Democratic Party Asian American Pacific Islander call, a question over how to address Hindu nationalism while maintaining Indian American support was contentious, with this parade highlighted.
The Prospect reached out to Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) office for an interview on this question, but got no response. The Prospect also attempted to reach out to Michigan state Rep. Padma Kuppa, who is currently running for a state Senate seat. Her office declined an interview request.
But even as Democrats across the country quarrel about the issue, in New Jersey, home to one of the largest Indian American populations in the country, the parade has become a flashpoint of controversy. On one side of the issue are coalitions of Hindu, multi-faith, and other secular groups decrying Hindu nationalism spreading on American shores. The other side claims that such attempts to classify Hindu organizations as right-wing extremists are anti-Hindu in themselves, perpetuating bigotry and division.