'Weaponised Hinduphobia': American Hindus urge Trump to fire Peter Navarro over remarks against Brahmins

Peter Navarro, White House trade advisor and US President Donald Trump's aide, has continued to stir the hornet's nest with his relentless tirades against India over Russian oil purchases. The Trump aide's recent remark against the Brahmins did not sit well with the Hindus in America. 

American Hindus represented by HinduPACT's American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) on Wednesday demanded the immediate dismissal of Trump's senior advisor for promoting hatred against the community.

They claimed that Navarro's comment is not a critique but "a colonial-era trope recycled to divide the Hindu society and depict India as inherently unjust". 

Ajay Shah, Executive Chair of HinduPACT, said: "This is not foreign policy. It's weaponised Hinduphobia". He added that dividing Hindus through colonial ideas does not build relationships; it destroys them. "People like Navarro have no place in American political life".

Not just his remarks, the bloc also slammed Navarro for sharing a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in saffron robes. As per HinduPACT, the picture was shared to mock Hindu spirituality while exerting economic pressure on India. 

Commenting on the picture, HinduPACT president Deepti Mahajan said: "If the target was the Hindu faith, that's religious hostility. If the target was India's leadership, that's diplomatic recklessness. Either way, it's a serious violation." 

What exactly did Navarro say? 

During a recent interaction with Fox News, Navarro said it was Brahmins who were profiteering from the Russian oil business. He alleged that Indian refiners purchase cheap Russian crude, process it, and sell it abroad at a premium. 

“And what do we have to do as taxpayers? We’ve got to send them more money. You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop,” he said in the interview.

Furthermore, he called India a "laundromat for the Kremlin", while blaming it for "funding" Moscow's war on Ukraine. He explained that India's oil purchases from Russia not only fund Moscow's war in Ukraine but also put pressure on the US to provide financial assistance to Ukraine. 

“Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says give us more money [for its war]. Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers and businesses lose, workers lose, because India's high tariffs cause jobs, income and higher wages. The taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi's war."