On 16 Jul, at Milwaukee, Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, a Sikh civil rights lawyer and Republican Party leader offered ardas (prayers) at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in the presence of Donald Trump – the official Republican Presidential Candidate for the upcoming 2024 US elections. The ardas is usually offered by the Sikhs worldwide before any new endeavor to thank the Divine and seek protection and help in upholding values such as humility, truth, and justice for all. The convention was Trump’s first public appearance after the attack on him. After the ardas, in her short speech Dhillon said, ‘…We thank you God for his (Trump's) examples of Nirbhau, fearlessness and Nirvair, the absence of hate when faced with vitriol.’ For a while now, the Sikhs have conducted the ardas at various occasions in the US. For example, in 2004 at the White House on the celebration of 400 years of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh charter or scripture; as late as 2023 before the commencement of the session of the US House of Representatives; or even in 2016 before Trump was declared the Republican Presidential candidate. However, to use terms from the prayer to wrongly describe Trump’s character is dishonest because he is known to be one of most divisive hatemonger politicians in history. Unlike earlier times, Dhillon’s prayer attracted a huge amount of hate from the right-wing in the US. While the RNC might have tried to use the prayer to showcase pluralism and diversity among the Republicans, there is no denying that Trump’s own politics have enabled this hate.
Like what you're reading? Subscribe to our top stories.
Liv Forum provides a digest of analysis on major issues facing Indian (East) Panjab and Sikhs globally.
In accordance with our Privacy Policy, we will never share or sell the information of our subscribers.