Trump lights Diwali lamp in Oval Office as pardoned Jan 6 rioter brings darkness to Seattle celebration
TOI correspondent from Washington: In an awkward collision of symbolism and reality, US President Donald Trump celebrated Diwali’s victory of good over evil in the Oval Office last Friday just hours before a right-wing extremist he pardoned for January 6 violence disrupted an Indian community Diwali celebration in Seattle.Photos of the low-key Oval Office Diwali event came not from the White House but from those who attended the ceremony, including tech entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, who presented a Hanuman chalisa — the devotional hymn to Lord Hanuman recited by millions for courage and strength — to Trump on the occasion. It was another ironic outcome considering MAGA hardliners have also raged against a Hanuman statue in Sugarland, Texas.The Oval Office gathering included India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, FBI Director Kash Patel, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Social Security Administration Deputy Commissioner Arjun Mody, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, among others. There was no media coverage of the event.The White House subsequently issued a presidential message in which Trump sent his “warmest greetings to Americans across our great Nation celebrating Diwali – the Festival of Lights.”“During this special time, families gather around flickering diyas, homes shine with the warmth of ancient traditions, and countless communities glow with the beauty of a celebration thousands of years in the making. This Diwali, we observe light’s enduring triumph over the forces of darkness and honor the goodness that lives within each and every one of us — timeless values that have long enriched the great story of America,” the message read.It was a stirring sentiment, although the administration’s record has provided plenty of material for those wondering about the darkness in question.Trump began his second presidency by pardoning or commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people charged or convicted in connection with January 6, including Jake Lang, who had faced serious charges over his participation in the Capitol assault. The sweeping clemency drew criticism from law-enforcement advocates, particularly given the violence inflicted on police officers that day.On Saturday, Lang and another activist interrupted performances at the Seattle Center Armory carrying signs reading “Deport All Dot Heads” and “Stop Hindu Replacement of Christians.” The incident barely created a ripple in the administration, even though several lawmakers condemned the disruption and racist slogans.Despite the President’s gesture, an annual feature going back to the Bush White House, the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies and rhetoric targeting immigrants are widely seen to have contributed to an increasingly hostile political climate for immigrant communities. The Seattle episode offered a particularly ugly manifestation of that atmosphere, coming weeks after authorities thwarted a mass shooting plan targeting a Hindu temple in Illinois.Several lawmakers have condemned the Seattle incident, noting the rise in anti-India sentiment across the US “The racist, anti-Indian protests at a Diwali event in Seattle are despicable and must be unequivocally condemned. To those in the Indian-American community, please know I stand with you amidst a terrifying rise in anti-Indian sentiment in the US,” North Carolina Congresswoman Deborah Ross, a former civil rights attorney, said in a post on X.
