Tulsi Gabbard Seeks Non-Partisan Cooperation Between India & the U.S.
Association Fallacies Seek To Miscategorize Her Relationship With India
Some people try to blame Tulsi Gabbard for any and all issues in India, yet she is a United States Representative, that has little input on internal issues facing this democracy of 1.3 billion people.
Overall, the people of India live in harmony Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Others all live side-by-side. Just as the U.S has issues with inequity, racism, and more. India with 4x times the population of the US has 4x the variety of internal issues. The caste system has been ruled illegal yet, just like the U.S., prejudice still exists, with the youngest people being the most progressive on social issues.
Tulsi Gabbard was assigned to and serves on House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, determining policy that directly impacts the entire world. Visiting with foreign leaders falls cleanly within the jurisdiction of her responsibilities to her constituents and to our country.
In September 2014, Tulsi met with Narendra Modi in New York City to foster stronger US/India relations. During their meeting, the two spoke of the priorities shared by India and the U.S., including defeating the threat posed by ISIS and other Islamic extremists, collaborating to address environmental concerns, and maximizing economic opportunities.
“It has been an honor to welcome India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States today, and to hear his message of peace and friendship at his address to an energized crowd at New York’s renowned Madison Square Garden. Mr. Modi’s visit marks a significant positive step toward growing the relationship between the U.S. and India, which is a bond based on shared democratic values and a focus on mutual prosperity and security. I look forward to his visit to Washington, D.C. later this week, where I expect he will continue to build the strong ties between our two great nations. I thank the Prime Minister for sharing his inspiring message of his vision for a brighter future, and I wish him well as he works to carry out his mission of service,” said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
In December 2014 Tulsi spent nearly three weeks of meetings with India’s top government, military, and business leaders, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard sought to “introduce the people of India to Hawaiʻi — to share with them the aloha spirit and plant seeds for closer cultural and economic ties between the people of India and Hawaiʻi.”
Visiting seven major cities, Rep. Gabbard was warmly received by several high-level Indian officials and the country’s most respected and progressive leaders. During her tour of India, the congresswoman:
- Met again with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to further explore topics of mutual interest to America and India, focusing on enhanced cooperation in the fight against Islamic terrorism, working together to protect the environment, and maximizing economic opportunities between the two countries.
- Met with Modi’s political opposition Shashi Tharoor, and Rajeev Gowda both of the Indian National Congress Party, Modi’s political opposition.
- Met separately with India’s Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley, Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and Minister of External Affairs (Secretary of State), Srimati Sushma Swaraj, to discuss the challenges facing the international community with the aim of improving cooperation between the U.S. and India, particularly in the areas of commerce, security, and defense.
- Met with General Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Indian Army (COAS). Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Captain in the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard, discussed with Singh the need for the U.S. and India to increase collaboration in the fight against terrorists and the importance of partner-building military-to-military engagements between the U.S. Pacific Command and the Indian military.
- Met with India’s Minister for Tourism, Mahesh Chandra Sharma, to discuss strengthening tourism and cultural exchange opportunities between the U.S. and India.
- Met with Srimati Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (IC) of Commerce and Industry, to discuss ideas to increase commerce between India and the U.S. and minimize barriers to greater foreign investment.
- Met with Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Governor Mridula Sinha to discuss establishing a “sister state” relationship between Hawaiʻi and Goa, India’s most popular beach tourism destination, with the aim of increasing economic and cultural exchanges between Goa and Hawaiʻi, as well as promoting tourism.
- Delivered keynote address to the prestigious India Ideas Conclave, stressing the importance of having leaders who embrace the aloha spirit and work for the welfare of others as servant leaders. The conclave is known as India’s most eclectic and thought-provoking platform for global leaders and experts to discuss ideas in various fields of human development.
- Met with several prominent figures in the India film industry to encourage increased cross-collaboration between those in the film industry in India and in Hawaiʻi.
- Toured several sites of spiritual and cultural significance, including the memorial temple of Mahatma Gandhi, where Rep. Gabbard tried her hand at spinning cotton into thread on a replica of the spinning wheel used by Gandhi (photo available for download here).
Rep. Gabbard’s tour of India was conducted while Congress was in recess, and no U.S. taxpayer dollars were expended to pay for any portion of the trip.
In July of 2017, Gabbard announced a sister state partnership between Hawaii and Goa India as part of increased trade between the two largest democracies.
Tulsi has rejected the very idea of religious bigotry and sectarianism that is dark and insidious wherever it appears, whether in India, the United States or anywhere else.
“A pluralist secular government is the only way to ensure that all individuals have the freedom to follow the religious or non-religious path of our choice.” — Tulsi Gabbard
People often use association fallacies to attack another when they don’t have any other line of attack. This is blatantly obvious when you take into consideration that no other that met with Narendra Modi is being criticized in this manner.
For instance, they say that Tulsi (B) met with this big scary bad man (A) and therefore supports everything the bad man and all their followers/citizens do, some go farther and claim that Tulsi is controlled by the big scary man (C).
The logic of an association fallacy Premise A is a B; Premise A is also a C; Conclusion, Therefore, all Bs are Cs.
This is faulty reasoning.
When people claim that Tulsi supports extreme political positions and figures in India they conveniently leave out that Obama met with Modi eight times, so much that the media started calling it a “bromance”.
.
President Obama, President Trump, Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Xi Jinping, Muslim religious leaders, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, multiple U.S. Congress members, and many others have all welcomed Prime Minister Modi with open arms.
Not a single one of these people has ever been criticized for meeting with Modi or criticized for India’s politics.
So why is Tulsi Gabbard, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Congress and is responsible for helping establish diplomatic relations with leaders around the world, criticized for meeting with Modi?
Anti-Hindu bigotry. Because Tulsi is one of several hundred million people who identify as Hindu and Modi is also Hindu, the anti-Hindu haters find fault with her meeting for no logical reason other than her Hindu religion. Hinduphobia is no less insidious than Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or any other bigotry.
“Both in India and here in the US, I have held meetings with members of both the BJP and the Congress Party. As a member of the US Congress, my interest is in helping produce a closer relationship between the United States and India, not just between the United States and one political party of India. Sometimes people on both sides, for their own purposes, try to say I somehow favor, or am part, of the BJP or take photos of me at Indian events and circulate them for their own promotional reasons. But the fact is, I’m not partial to BJP, the Congress Party, or any other particular political party in India.” — Tulsi Gabbard
If you want to know Tulsi’s stance on religious freedom, please watch Tulsi’s keynote speech at the 2016 Reason Rally. This speech goes into depth as to how she strongly stands for secularism and religious freedom for all:
I encourage you to learn more about Tulsi Gabbard and not fall for logical fallacies and nonsense.
