South Asian community leaders speak out against Trump

South Asian Democrats protested Donald Trump'sappearance at the Edison Expo Center Saturday night. The Republican presidential nominee spoke at an event run by the Republican Hindu Coalition sometime

News 12 Staff

Oct 16, 2016, 7:05 AM

Updated 2,760 days ago

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South Asian community leaders speak out against Trump
South Asian Democrats protested Donald Trump'sappearance at the Edison Expo Center Saturday night.
The Republican presidential nominee spoke at an event run by the Republican Hindu Coalition sometime around 8:00 p.m.
The event was billed on the RHC website as a "Hindus United Against Terror Charity Concert" and Trump is listed as the key speaker on terrorism.
Trump took the stage to an ovation and quickly reached out to the Indian community, not by talking of immigration but of their homeland.
"When I'm president we will stand shoulder to shoulder with India in sharing intelligence and keeping our people safe," Trump said.
The Democrats, however, have said that Trump simply has a history of discriminating against minorities and that his demeanor, policies and speeches have incited violence against people of color. 
They say that they wanted to stress that many Hindus, Indian Americans and South Asians in general don't support Trump. They planted both U.S. and Indian flags in the grass to make a firm statement against the Republican presidential nominee. 
Congressman Frank Pallone said that Trump was using this event to stoke anti-Muslim sentiment and maybe even pit Hindus and Muslims against each other. 
Several speakers at the protest also said that they didn't appreciate someone from outside New Jersey coming and trying to paint the Indian and Hindu community with a broad brush. They claim that the head of the RHC, Shalabh Kumar, is a billionaire who organized the event and staunchly supports Trump. 
The Republican Hindu Coalition and Kumar say Hindus and Indian-Americans should back Trump and that Democrats only pay lip service to over 3 million Indian-Americans.
Trump has previously called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and for extreme vetting of anyone wanting to immigrate or enter the United States. 


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