New York: Texas Congressman Brandon Gill of the 26th Congressional District is under fire after a tweet that described an Indian American community volleyball tournament in Dallas as representative of a “caste system.” The event, hosted by the Leuva Patidar Samaj, attracted around 8,000 participants from a community of around 40,000 in the United States.
Dylan Patel, a tech analyst, on March 1 posted a photo of the tournament, pointing out the robust attendance and identifying many of the competitors as business owners in the motel and gas station sectors. Gill replied, “America is the ‘land of opportunity’ because we DON’T have a caste system. We can’t preserve America’s prosperity and freedom by importing foreign class loyalties. Immigration without assimilation is national and cultural suicide.”
The congressman’s comment was followed by a quick backlash. Suhag Shukla, co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation, slammed Gill’s view, saying, “Respectfully, the abuse of the term ‘caste’ and now your tweet is promulgating the kind of anti-Indian and anti-Hindu hate that days ago caused actual violence.”
She clarified that the event was a community celebration of traditional farmers now working for America as small shop and hotel owners, hiring employees, and paying taxes. Shukla went on to criticize Gill’s description by posing the question, “Would you have said the same thing if Scot-Irish farm families from West Virginia or Pennsylvania Mennonite families were getting together in Dallas? We need our elected leaders to do better.”
Gill, a former conservative student activist at Dartmouth College and vocal critic of progressive policies, has made himself a champion of traditional American values. He is married to the daughter of Indian American conservative author and activist Dinesh D’Souza.
