OPINION: Trump knows a turban from a hat; to humiliate, however, is his birthright.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: The braggadocio of businessman Donald Trump knows no bounds apparently. He’s the antithetical element in the presidential race, the candidate who instead of trying to spread the message of peace and harmony to bring together communities in America, knows to a perfection how to irrevocably humiliate minorities, especially Muslims, and distance himself from liberal minded folks.
Trump has not cared two hoots of promoting hatred and vengeance against radical Muslims – after putting all Muslims in the US under the Damocles’ sword of deportation. He has in random order threatened to wreack havoc in the lives of Muslims, from banning them in the US to exterminating them around the world.
The poll numbers have showed rampant support for Trump though, emboldening him even more in his rabid bravado. In Iowa, on Saturday, he proclaimed in his highly declaratory, irascible manner: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
Trump, has of course, also promised to deport 11 million or 15 million Mexicans back to Mexico, force a highly penitent Mexico thereafter to pay for thousands-mile-long border wall that is going to be as historic as the Great Wall of China. Needless to say, Mexicans don’t exactly throw roses at him in euphoria when he speaks.
On Sunday, in Iowa, Trump added the Sikh community in his growing list of despicable people living in the US, or conversely, in his case, the new community who can detest him only at the danger of providing him with perverse chance to laugh into their faces with an ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude.
A Sikh man, wearing a red turban, and carrying a placard, ‘Stop Hate’ was thrown out of a Trump event at Muscatine High School. Trump looked at the silent Sikh protestor, who complied with security, for long seconds as he was led off.
Moments before the Sikh protestor was being led out, Trump had been talking of radical Islam and the terror that emanated from it, evoking the 9/11 attacks and the San Bernardino shootings.
After the adoring crowd broke into raucous chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.,” with the Sikh protester ejected, Trump smirked a bit, maybe might have been reminded of some other encounters in the past with Sikhs, friends or foes alike, made a quip about the Sikh man’s turban: “He wasn’t wearing one of those hats was he?” referring to his campaign’s trademark ‘Make America Great Again’ hats, which are red in color, the same color as the turban the Sikh protestor was wearing.
Trump continued: “And he never will, and that’s okay, because we got to do something folks because it’s not working.”
It’s maybe OK to assume that in some parts of the country, in rural areas where directors love to shoot the ‘Texas Chainsaw’ kind of films, some hillbillies may not have seen a bearded Sikh man in a turban, or for that matter, a White man like Trump in fine Italian leather shoes. But to even imagine that Trump has not met or seen a Sikh man in a turban in his life, is like saying that one has lived in Times Square for 30 years and not seen a Broadway musical.
If nobody else, Trump is sure to have hobnobbed with his popular fellow colleague in industry, New York City hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, who loves to wear red turbans, and like Trump, loves to build beautiful hotels. It’s impossible that they have not met numerous times at the parties and meets hosted by many, including Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who have close ties with the Trump and Chatwal families.
And maybe, just maybe, Trump might have seen a Sikh or two on his visits to India. Out of the 30 million plus Sikh population in the world, more than 21 million of them live in India.
Did you see a Sikh man on your travels to India, Mr. Donald Trump? Don’t you know that the turban they wear is an article of faith for them, not a hat? Try mocking a Sikh man in India the next time you are in India, Mr. Trump, and see thereafter how many fine hotels you and your children would be allowed to build in India. I think the word you might be looking at is: Nada.
It’s a well-known and documented fact that it’s the Sikh community, who have, even more than the Muslim community, bore the brunt of the hate-drenched aftermath of the 9/11 attacks 14 years ago. The first racist murder in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, came about on September 15, 2001, when Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, was shot dead by a man who presumed him to be an Arab Muslim.
Over the years, many such attacks have happened. Many more Sikhs have been murdered, attacked brutally, chased and terrorized, bullied and mocked in schools and streets alike. Gurdwaras vandalized, Sikhs killed inside a gurdwara. The number of hate crime cases against the Sikhs spurt higher after every violent terrorist attack by radical Muslims, be it in the US or elsewhere around the world.
The Sikh protestor thrown out at Trump’s rally was peacefully showing his abhorrence for the hate-fueled speeches of Trump aimed against radical Muslims, for one simple fact: like a boomerang, violence by radical Muslims or violence against radical Muslims all come down to more murders and brutality of Sikhs in America.
And mind you, this comes only days after Trump said publicly at the Republican debate in South Carolina, addressing Gov. Nikki Haley, whose parents are Sikhs: “Nikki Haley is my friend.”
But, of course, Trump, doesn’t get it. Or likely, pretends to not get it. Either which way, he doesn’t care.
Trump has found his only mantra for becoming president of the United States is to create more fear, ooze perpetual panic in the American people, distrust of all skins of foreign color, at least till the polls get over in November – if he gets past the primaries hurdle.
Trump’s biggest ploy has been to get his White supporters to turn against dissenters, be it black (remember the Black Lives Matter protestor thrown out of a rally and almost lynched in the process), brown (including now Sikhs), yellow (Trump wants to bring China down on its knees) and any mixed folks in between.
Blame your parents, you not-white-looking folks. Either kowtow to me and my grand opinions or get the hell out of America, is Trump’s vision of how America is going to progress forward in the 21st century.
(Sujeet Rajan is Editor-in-Chief, The American Bazaar)
46 Comments
Indians hate white people – in America, especially in IT.
What goes around comes around and Trump is going to win.
Find a new host to eat off of India.
Stay in India job robbers. IT jobs in America are not your birthright.
Nice try Sujeet Rajan. Take your liberal PC BS and shove it up your, you know what. Its a silly hat plain and simple.
Get used to saying it now Sujeet Rajan: President Trump!
Indians are shit and should be put in place. Trump is right, the good for nothing Indians settle in a foreign soil and spread like virus. They should be the first ones to be deported.
When any member of any other culture comes to America and demands that our culture be changed to accommodate his; that is where tolerance should end. (ex: Sikhs with turbans and facial hair in our military…should not be allowed)!!
If you want to be here, be American or get the hell out!!!
…..Most politician’s tend to use a lot of rhetoric before the polls,it needs to be seen whether being elected to power will make his plan’s come up TRUMPS,or whether like his predecessor, just go like a LUMP down the sewer.
In other news Canada just released the Sikh terrorist responsible for Bombing the Air India Plane in the 80s. If Sikhs are lumped with radical Islamic terrorists they need not look no further than the radical terrorist Khalistan movement which has used terrorist tactics in the past
I am Sikh .But I will not argue with any othe comments made by you,But realise dat any1 couldn’t spread hate by just Lookinat ur colour,caste and religion.We should be unite and live peacefully.and Now about sikhism,just study Sikhism.U all will forget wat SIkhism has contributed,But Sadly nobody intrested in it.We are just 1% of India population,Though serve 33% of Army,Serve free food to 10million ppl daily free of cost in our Sikh temples without any discrimination of caste,Colur,And we Arethe most humble community and peaceful community in wolrd.Dis News is for awareness.U can’t ever thnk of sacrifices made by SIkhism.study it all our 10 gurus and others history.thanx for reading my comment god bless u
And I am so sorry that these Trump followers can’t see the obvious hate that he is spewing. Thank you so much for being you – because that is absolutely fine and nothing wrong with it.
It’s “wreak” havoc. Not “wreck.”
A Black Lives Matters protester was thrown out and almost lynched in the process???? That’s a whole lot of poetic justice!
this is the guy that will make America great again, flooding America with Chinese products.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-admits-gear-made-china-labels/story?id=13472355
What an irony!
To Sayeed Nadeem: You are fulla horsehair. The moment Ronald Reagan was taking the oath of office, those hostages held for 444 days were on a plane to Wiesbaden. Don’t try to fool yourself as to what a strong US president is capable of. The arabs are cringing as to what he might do, both here, and abroad. Enough is enough, and these nasty asswads are going to be brought down.
Whine, whine, whine… boo hoo hoo… There will always be a complainer. If you don’t like it here so much, go back where you came from! The problem with INDIANS is, the ones who come here had more than a pot to piss in, and now they want to run more than the local APU’S.
You Sir, are a bad writer in that your facts are simply not correct. Your write, “Trump has not cared two hoots of promoting hatred and vengeance against radical Muslims – after putting all Muslims in the US under the Damocles’ sword of deportation.” Trump as never said we should deport all Muslims, only stop their immagration to our great country until they can be properly vetted, the FBI agreeing with him this is not currently being done. Second, you write, “Trump, has of course, also promised to deport 11 million or 15 million Mexicans back to Mexico.” This is simply not accurate, he said we should deport the “bad guys.” He has never said he’d deport all the illegals living here. But why not? They are ILLEGAL. They should go home and come legally if allowed. Because you can use of a thesaurus does not make you a writer.
Why not? Because deporting 11 million illegals means due process for 11 million people. 11 million indictments, hearings, trials and a full set of appeal as all persons in the US are entitled. Further, unless an illegal is arrested or applies for a legitimate job, they are invisible. You cannot walk up to someone and go “your papers please.”
This is why Trump supporters tend to be uneducated. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the law knows that deporting 11 million people will cost TRILLIONS and is completely ridiculous.
Maybe it is you, the writer that don’t understand that Muslim values are totally contrary to the Constitution of this great country. Wake up and quit whining. Many of us are sick of hearing about the poor Muslims whose own fellows around the world demean any other religious beliefs. Get over yourselves and if you don’t like it here…go elsewhere. This is America….not the mid east.
This article is full of lies. Trump is a good, honest man. He is our next president. Peace and virtue be with him. He is America’s last hope.
Toughen up people, sticks and stones remember how it goes? So now we are down on a guy for being honest, yet the intellectual Lizzie’s want to toss around the PC words of the month with no regard to the past. Calling Trump racist for making fun of a turbin is flat out a spit in the face of those civil right leaders of the 40’s-60’s who actually lived through racist hell.
Now he has pissed off 1.1 billion Indians, 1.8 billion Muslims, 1.1 Billion Chinese, 500 million Hispanics, many Canadians, British and he is not even a President yet. I can guarantee you as a moderate peace loving people, if Trump becomes president, you will see a huge rise in terrorism against the US as he has generated so much hatred that many millions and billions will turn their backs on the US.
A Trump presidency will mean Americans really do hate all Muslims, all Chinese, all Sikhs, all Hispanics.
It boils my blood to see people support this racist and I am a genuinely peace loving Muslim who is anti terror and anti Al Qaeda and anti ISIS, but I cant imagine what the radicals are thinking, this can only get really bad.
Being careful about letting in un-vetted Muslims is not “Racism”. Trump didn’t say “Don’t let them in.” He said “Don’t let them in until they’re vetted”. This is security not racism.
How about the girls in Cologne? Do you think that they’re racist because they didn’t want to allow people to Rape them?…even though some couldn’t were raped. You’re so busy feeling bad for the these cultures and countries that you mention that you don’t even understand where this conversation started.
The European’s current reaction to the violence in Europe isn’t created by Trump. It’s a natural reaction to a negative stimulus. Some people just don’t have the brains (or interest) in understanding the threat.
To be fair, had that Sikh assimilated and accepted American culture Trump would not have given him a second look. However, many Sikhs and Muslims refuse to assimilate, socializing only with their own kind, sticking to their old ways (turbans, culture, etc.). This is what Trump is against. If you come to America then embrace it, don’t try to bring your country and your religion here.
Why did America become a country again?? You know those pilgrims who immigrated to this land and killed numerous Native Americans? That’s right, it was to be able to freely exercise their religion… What’s up with the double standards, Jim?
You can’t possibly claim to be supporting American principles when you’re contradicting the very foundation that America was built on.
You sound fairly anti-American, to be honest.
Or if we go with your logic, then perhaps the pilgrims should have assimilated with the Native Americans instead of making drastic measures to forcefully convert them to Christianity and then eventually killing many of them?
Hang on: “The Sikh protestor thrown out at Trump’s rally was peacefully showing his abhorrence for the hate-fueled speeches of Trump aimed against radical Muslims”.
Seriously? This is one of the most troubling statements I’ve seen. Well then let’s just give those radical Muslims a big hug and say we’re sorry that we said something bad about their own version of hate and violence.
“…aimed against radical Muslims” is the main point. If any non-radical-Muslim is being targeted for something, then you should find other ways of dealing with it. Trump isn’t “creating” anything. It was already there. He’s just not ignoring it like the Dems are.
Sorry he called a turban a hat, but that’s about it…
I liken Donald Trump to Joe McCarthy. Another intolerant, lying, hating demagogue. I’m a white boy from Lorain, Ohio who loves diversity. I’m disheartened by extremism.
The “extremism” is coming from ISIS not Trump (or his supporters). The USA has created a population of SHEEP who won’t say, think or do anything about threats because “it might hurt someone’s feelings”.
If you’re not worried about the current situation and potential threat to the USA then maybe you should take your diversity and leave the USA and go find another country that will baby-sit you. Then you can continue to live your life with your head in the sand.
The comment was directed to the hate speech of the sign. How can a religious symbol be so perverted by hate – the implication of the words on the sign. No it’ s not working when acts and words are twisted in the name of religious tolerance.
For Trump, if you are not white, an American, and able to hide your baldness with hair you have not yet lost … you are OK in his book. He is American’s joke on the international community from going as far as he has (on his own money, which of course is necessary as few would pay to have him as a leader!)in the race for republican nominee for President. I can just hear him saying after he loses, or worse, if wins and blows up the foreign policies the US has lost young men in the armed services to be put in place to work towards peaceful solutions in countries that are being destroyed by their own government who abuse simple human rights and would starve its people to prove a point, as saying “Oh, bad me” of some other lame response like “The h*** with them if they can’t take a joke!” I have faith though that the American people who presently are considering staying or joining this man in his nomination to realize that the very same person he cuts down from his lofty podium of self-righteousness can next be them, or their children, or their grandchildren. This guy does not like any opposition and he will use any means he has available to show his resentment … quite honestly, Trump would not last a month in the White House without facing impeachment by the very same people who voted him in. Beware of what you want … you may just get it!
Trump has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. So didn’t Adolph Hitler. Without an understanding of the personality psychodynamics it is impossible to understand how Trump, the most obnoxious, offensive, arrogant, and inexperienced candidate is the Republican front runner.
Hitler scapegoated the Jews, the Polish, and many other groups. Hitler used the false sense of victimhood, anger, and hatred the white german working class were carrying and manipulated them to great effect.
Trump is scapegoating Muslims, Immigrants, Liberals, and others. Being a narcissist Trump is a master button pusher and is using the hate and toxicity in his own supporters to gain political advantage.
Folks, the same exact psycho dynamics that gave rise to Hitler are unfolding again in the Trump cult of personality.
Hopefully their are enough good Americans with sufficient consciousness and discernment to recognize it and to stop it. The world does not need another Hitler experience.
Knowing what a low down scumbag Donald Trump is , I wonder if something like this is setup by the Trump people to create drama and to show some power. an actor with a turban and a sign. would not cost much and would make a show.
Trump is just a pathetic liar, he will not fix America. How could he? Purchasing 2000 TV sets from china for his business as he mentioned in one of his speeches(Why? TV’s are cheaper there than in the USA?), doesn’t USA make TV’s? Is this how he will make America great again?
Wake up folks and put this idiot in his place…
Think of the pleasure we can all have in casting a vote against Trump!
Linguistically, there’s nothing incorrect about calling a turban a “hat.” “Hat” includes a wide variety of headgear, many of which have specific names. A person can call a kind of headgear a “hat” from ignorance or a negative attitude. It’s still linguistically correct.
I will also say there’s nothing wrong with a U.S. citizen being opposed to the presence of illegal aliens here. We do have laws and those laws are being broken. There’s nothing legally incorrect about wanting our existing laws to be enforced.
I too don’t agree with everything Trump says, but don’t think attacks or criticism such as in this piece are useful or productive. I would rather see people “channel” Miss Manners in dealing with Trump. If he is not attacked or treated badly, he has less to lash out against; and we have more time to learn more about what his policies would be if he actually got elected.
Trump aside…All muslims should be shamed into the ground along with all the other delusional apocalyptic nonsensical “religions” Islam in particular has no place in a rational civilized world.
I’m not a Trump fan by any means but the author says, “Trump has not cared two hoots of promoting hatred and vengeance against radical Muslims”
Is this a bad thing? Shouldn’t we be against all forms of radicalized behavior? Shouldn’t we promote hatred of the evil radicalized people have inflicted on the world’s people?
Perhaps Trump could be more sensitive, but you don’t exactly rally our sympathy when tell us that we could be banned from doing in business throughout India because one of our parents once called a turban a “hat”.
No, trash like you doesn’t get it. The Sikh man was challenging Trump at Trump’s own PRIVATE rally. The Indian trash was led out, because he had no right to be at Trump’s rally.
You don’t like it ? Go back to your third world country India, and stay out of the U.S..
Wow… PRIVATE rally? And why is he trash? He had every right like you to be there.
Go Trump !!!!
I’m a Sikh in America and I do not support Trump. I do not think that by his words, trump was trying to insult or humiliate the protester. Your article is derisive and in my opinion trying really hard to get attention and clicks. I read it as will many others but I hope they see it for what it is.
Maybe politicans should start listening to the people instead of doing what THEY think is right.
you don’t like it then leave.
No thanks. We’ll stay. And we’ll continue to increase the number of non-white, non-Christian, non-European-descended people in America, and eventually you will be part of the minority. Fortunately for you, we will still be for inclusiveness, so you won’t have to suffer even a small fraction of the abuse that ‘conservative white Christians’ have visited upon minorities in the past.
You’re welcome…
“When the know-nothings get control, [the Declaration of Independence] will read: ‘All men are created equal except negroes, foreigners and Catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.” — Abraham Lincoln
Such a poorly written article. Are you sure your are the Editor? Can’t we just stick with the facts as to what Trump has said. No reason to embellish, because that just makes Trump seem the coherent one. “temporary and selective non-resident Muslim ban” and who cares about the turban, the guy was there as a protestor. Personally I’m leaning towards Hillary, but with all this crappie half truth journalism Trump just gets stronger and stronger.
He was making a joke that the red turban was not his red hat. And that the guy would never wear one. Such a lame article.