Earlier this week, Republican leader Harmeet Dhillon came into the limelight with the dramatic offering of Sikh prayer to end the Republican National Convention, triggering puritanical Christians in the United States who called it ‘anti-Christian’ and apparently ‘blasphemous’.
Dhillon recited the opening section of the ‘Ardas’ in Gurmukhi, followed by a prayer in English for America, the American voters, and expressing gratitude to God for protecting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from an assassination attempt.
While many hailed it as a significant instance of cultural and religious representation by a party typically viewed as predominantly white, conservative, and Christian, several Christian fundamentalists and ultra-conservatives attacked her for being a ‘demon worshipper’ and committing ‘blasphemy’ by praying to a ‘demon god’.
As insults and verbal attacks were directed at Dhillon, the Republican leader seemed to enjoy the international attention she was receiving for the first time in her public career. However, this incident also brought to light some of her other problematic aspects that had been overlooked until now but took on greater significance following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, tipping the elections in his favour as reports of Biden’s deteriorating mental health surface, raising doubts even among staunch Democrats, including George Clooney, of his ability to lead the country.
Harmeet Dhillon, the pro-Khalistan Republican leader who whitewashed Nijjar’s extremist ideology
Dhillon had long been accused of being a terror sympathiser and harbouring Khalistani sentiments—an extremist ideology that uses violence as a tool to push its objectives and calls for the secession of the Punjab state from India and the establishment of an independent Sikh-majority Khalistan. The ideology has manifested in the most violent forms over decades, most notably with violence that gripped the state of Punjab in the 1980s and which led to the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi, who was killed by her Khalistani bodyguards for ordering the Indian Army to flush out Khalistani terrorists hiding in the Golden Temple.
Notably, the violent campaign of the Khalistan movement reached its pinnacle in the 1980s and 1990s, featuring bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and massacres of innocent Hindus and Sikhs. The violence took on an international dimension in 1985 when Khalistani separatists based in Canada exploded a bomb on an Air India flight en route from Toronto to New Delhi, killing all 329 people on board, including 82 children under the age of 13. That incident remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history.
The Khalistani violence saw a resurgence of late, with the likes of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a terrorist deemed by the Indian state, egging on his supporters to indulge in violence against PM Modi and his ministers following the passage of three farm laws. The protests that erupted after the bills were passed also saw protesters carrying the pictures of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale indulging in arson and vandalism in Punjab and at the border of New Delhi.
Globally, too, the separatist Khalistan movement has resulted in violence, anarchy, and attacks against Hindu temples. From Australia to Canada to the United Kingdom, Khalistani elements have started attacking not just Indian embassies but also Hindu temples, attacking the places of worship of people that staunchly oppose the separatist fantasy of Khalistan and support the Indian government in its efforts to liquidate the burgeoning secessionist movement.
Several reports affirm Khalistanis living abroad receiving emotional and handsome monetary support from Pakistan, a cash-strapped country struggling to pay its debts but has enough funds to stir problems for India, whether in Kashmir or Punjab. Interestingly, the proponents of such a secessionist idea, however, remain mealy-mouthed about the fate of the much larger Pakistan side of Punjab and whether it would be a part of their fantasyland Khalistan. Nevertheless, the idea continues to excite rabid extremists, both based in India and outside, of having a separate homeland exclusive to Sikhs.
Dhillon is accused by her critics of sympathising with the cause of Khalistan and helping Khalistanis based out of the United States. To contextualise the issue, it would mean an Indian opposition politician extending support to extremists demanding the secession of one of its states, say Alaska.
Nothing corroborates her pro-Khalistan bent more starkly than her stance on the Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing and the subsequent volleys of defamatory allegations levelled by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. On 19th September 2023, a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of killing Nijjar, Dhillon quoted Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre who supported Trudeau in attacking India.
Dhillon wrote, “Canada’s conservative leader joins other Canadian officials in condemning the extrajudicial murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It’s good to see them unite against this shocking act.” Notably, at that time, Trudeau did not provide any evidence to support his allegations and the Canadian government has yet to provide any substantial evidence against India.
It is worth noting Dhillon’s attempt to humanise the Khalistani terrorist. Nijjar is described as a ‘Sikh leader’ and not a ‘Khalistani leader’ to draw the support of the Sikh diaspora in the United States, preying on their religious beliefs while simultaneously whitewashing the extremist ideology he represented.
In December 2023, she quoted US-based media house The Intercept’s dubious and baseless report against India where it was claimed that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a secret memo in April 2023. The news report claimed that the Indian government, in the memo, ordered its consulates in North America to launch a “sophisticated crackdown scheme” against ‘Sikh diaspora organisations’ in Western nations. Indian government categorically denied the existence of any such memo. Here, too, Dhillon tried to gin up resentment among the Sikh diaspora after unknown men killed Nijjar for reasons best known to them.
Dhillon’s anti-India attacks
But Dhillon’s problematic facets aren’t limited to Khalistan alone. Even though she has her origins in India, she doesn’t lose out on an opportunity to attack the country, presumably to burnish her image as an ‘American leader who has the interests of fellow Americans at heart’.
In March this year, just ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, she quoted The Economist report on how Indian migrants were helping PM Narendra Modi in campaigning at home and lobbying for India abroad. Quoting the report, Dhillon again repeated the baseless accusations against India that the Indian government is assassinating critics in the diaspora.
In March 2023, she quoted a Reuters report on so-called Human Rights violations in India and asserted that the people of Punjab suffered due to the recent internet shutdown. She also claimed that Sikh journalists and activists were being targeted. The internet shutdown in Punjab she was referring to was done to stop the spread of misinformation during a crackdown against Khalistani sympathiser preacher-turned-MP Amritpal Singh. Several journalists and media houses also faced action as they spread misinformation during that period.
Dhillon is also the owner of a law firm ‘The Dhillon Law Group’ with offices spanning the length and breadth of the United States. The website of the firm says it is a ‘nationally recognised business and constitutional law firm that provides services for business litigation (including alternative dispute resolution), labour and employment discrimination, First Amendment litigation, corporate transactions and compliance, intellectual property protection services, contract enforcement, campaign law, and Internet defamation and privacy law.
Hinduphobia of Harmeet Dhillon’s associate and partner at Dhillon Law Group
One of the partners at ‘The Dhillon Law Group’ is a controversial character called John-Paul-Deol. The official website describes him as ‘Partner and Head of Employment Law Practice’. “John-Paul S. Deol is a partner and the head of the Firm’s nationwide Employment Law Practice Group. He handles high-profile, high-stakes matters for some of the world’s best-known C-level executives, directors, EVPs, VPs, investment and law firm partners, founders, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and other prominent leaders in their respective fields,” his bio on the lawfirm’s website says.
But on social media, he is just like another Hinduphobic troll spewing venom against Hindu Gods and Hindus in general. In July 2023, Deol, who goes by the handle @jpdeol and calls himself ‘Unsubtle Jatt’, courted controversy by making a derogatory reference to Lord Shiva in response to a tweet posted by a user on The Wire article criticising terrorist Bhindranwale.
Unsettled by the reply, Deol, like a loyal Bhindranwale supporter, replied with a Hinduphobic comment abusing Lord Shiva.
Although Deol subsequently deleted the tweet, the language and its irreverence for Hindu Gods reflect the deep-seat Hinduphobia of the Dhillon’s associate.
But this is not the only instance when Deol’s latent Hinduphobia came to the surface. He has a chequered history of hurling racist and casteist slurs at Hindus and at Sikhs who don’t toe his ideological line.
On July 1, 2023, he quote-tweeted, “There is no civilization more sad and backward than pagan Lindu.” In this tweet, he insults Hindu people by calling them backward. The term ‘Lindu’ appears to be wordplay used in a derogatory manner.
Dhillon’s associate also attacked Indian-American researcher Puneet Sahani for listing down Khalistanis most consequential and inimical to Hindu interests. One of them he named was Harmeet Dhillon. Deol quoted the tweet and derogatorily referred to Sahani, a Sikh himself, as ‘MahaChuhra’, a casteist slur and equivalent of what the N-Word is in the United States.
How these caste-laws are blatant cover for #Hinduphobia, can be gauged from reaction of Khalistanis. Backers who’re emselves most vile & violent of caste-ists!
— Puneet Sahani (@puneet_sahani) April 10, 2023
Here’s law partner of @pnjaban LYING about Vedas & slurring me MahaChuhra!
Equivalent of calling me: The Great [N word]. https://t.co/f5ux5l7aKv pic.twitter.com/9Ura0ywyUN
Deol, who has been one of the enthusiastic backers of the Hinduphobic anti-caste bill in the United States, also vilified Vedas by linking them to caste.
Harmeet Dhillon made political contributions to Kamala D Harris
Furthermore, Harmeet Dhillon has also been a former cheerleader of Democrat leader Kamala Harris before she joined the Republican fold. Dhillon had reportedly made political contributions to Kamala Harris when she was running for San Francisco district attorney.
NGO headed by Harmeet Dhillon paid over $1 million to her law firm
In addition, RNC committewoman Harmeet Dhillon is also accused of corruption after a report published in June 2023 in The Guardian stated that a non-profit that she helmed directed more than $1 million into her law firm, Dhillon Law Group.
“The Guardian has found that at least $1.32m has been transferred from the Center for American Liberty (CAL) to her law firm, Dhillon Law Group, in a move one charity expert described as “problematic”. Additionally, state and federal filings show Dhillon takes a $120,000 salary from CAL for a two-hour work week,” the report published in the UK daily said.
CAL was established in 2018 by California lawyers who had strong ties to Republican politics and conservative legal organizations. Initially, it was known as Publius Lex, as indicated by state and federal records.
Publius Lex remained largely unnoticed by the public until mid-2019, when Dhillon vocally supported Andy Ngo, the media personality who was filmed being punched and drenched with milkshakes in downtown Portland that June.
In 2020, Dhillon Law was the largest single contractor in CAL’s 990 IRS filing, earning $814,714 in legal fees. This amount accounted for over 45% of all program expenses and 30% of CAL’s total expenses of nearly $2.8 million for the year.
In 2021, Dhillon Law earned $507,469 in fees from CAL, making it the second highest-earning contractor. Additionally, Dhillon began receiving a $120,000 annual salary without increasing her two-hour weekly commitment to the organization, as noted in that year’s 990 filing.
“The Center for American Liberty is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the civil liberties of Americans left behind by civil rights legacy organizations,” the mission statement of the NGO said, but as per Joan Harrington, a fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at the Santa Clara University, “It looks like Dhillon Law and the non-profit are overlapping to the extent that its hard to tell the difference.”
Trump should cut loose Dhillon to ensure US-India ties remain robust
Given these problematic antecedents, from support for Khalistani elements to her associate’s unapologetic and appalling Hinduphobia to allegations of corruption, it might be wise on Trump’s part to cut loose on a leader whose support for separatist Khalistani elements may not only impact his support among the Indian diaspora but also cause strain in the US-India ties, which flourished under Trump as the US President.
The United States needs India as a counterweight to China, more so under Trump, who is likely to become the next President of the US, as the polls suggest, at a time when Beijing is pushing aggressively to assert its hegemony. In such volatile times, Trump would not want to estrange India and allow China to succeed in its goal of replacing the US as the primary global power. Rather than being forced by circumstances, Trump should take proactive action and prevent the possibility of the incoming US government being taken over by terror supporters and sympathisers.
It is also pertinent to note that the Trump administration in 2018 deemed Khalistani terror outfit Babbar Khalsa a threat to American interests. Trump is undoubtedly best suited to take India-US ties to the next level, more than Biden given questions over his health. However, the biggest challenge on this front for Trump would be to rein in terror sympathising elements in his team that may ruin the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.
