Brandon Gill sparked a major row after he shared an alleged video of Indians celebrating Chhath Puja in Texas.
The Hindu American Foundation has responded to the buzz surrounding a video of Indians watching a Chhath Puja in Texas, questioning Congressman Brandon Gill if there was nothing else to worry about other than milk being poured into the water while a real war was going on. Rep. Brandon Gill, whose husband is Indian-American Danielle D’Souza, expressed concern about water contamination and called the celebrations “a third-world religious ritual.” “I don’t want a third-world religious ceremony to be held on a public waterway in my community,” Gill commented, sharing a video of a couple pouring milk into a body of water, behind which a makeshift puja arrangement can be seen packed with worshipers. “Chhat Puja, Denton, Texas. Dumping milk directly into the lake is not OK. It pollutes our local waterways and harms fish and aquatic life,” wrote the social media user who posted the video. This video has not been independently verified. “As of early 2023, 3 million cattle are being raised in feedlots for slaughter in Texas. Their runoff is one of the biggest causes of nutrient and bacterial water contamination. But @realBrandonGill is worried about a glass of milk. Isn’t there like a real war to worry about?” wrote Suhag A Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, commenting on the uproar on social media. The video went viral online at a time when Indians are under attack in the US, especially in Texas, as Americans and MAGA influencers claim Indians are taking over American cities. TikTok videos of Indians dancing at various famous locations in the United States are being shared to accuse them of not wanting to assimilate into American culture. Reacting to Shukla’s jibe at Gill, many social media users pointed out that she should not have used one mistake to justify another. Another user wrote: “It’s not about a glass of milk, it’s about Indians not assimilating and invading America. We don’t want them here or in your culture.”
