Who is this Tulsi and why is she here ? Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981) is an American politician who has been the United States Representative for Hawaiis second congressional district since 2013. She is also a Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the first American Samoan,the first Hindu member,and, along with Tammy Duckworth, one of the first female combat veterans in the United States Congress. Gabbard previously served on the Honolulu City Council and in the Hawaii House of Representatives; she was the youngest woman in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. She is currently a Military Police Company Commander with the Hawaii Army National Guard, and has served on two deployments to the Middle East. _____________________________________________________________ She is a vegetarian and a Hindu who follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and specifically follows Sanatan Dharma and the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya,a religious movement brought to the United States in the 1960s by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada under the name ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), also known as the Hare Krishna movement. She especially appreciates the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritual guide, and used the Gita when she was ceremonially sworn in as a Representative. Gabbard describes herself as a karma yogi and credits her parents with instilling the value of karma yoga and being of service in her and her siblings. As a Vaishnava, Gabbard looks forward to visiting India, especially the holy sites of Vrindavan, after starting her Congressional term. Gabbard has said that she is pleased that her election gives hope to young American Hindus who can be open about their faith, and even run for office, without fear of being discriminated against or attacked because of their religion. Currently, Hon. Tulsi is the only Congresswoman in the US Congress who is a true believer in Hinduism but also openly supports it. It is for the first time in the history of the US Congress that Hon. Tulsi as a Congress member had taken the oath on Bhagwad Gita. During the Congress session before the 2014 Indian election in April/May, a few Republican and Democratic Congressmen had tabled an anti-Modi resolution. Hon. Tulsi openly challenged the resolution during the hearing and expressed her strong disapproval against it and called it an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of a friendly country like India. She also stated that the resolution was aimed at destabilizing the Indian election process. Recently, The Vishwa Bhavan Mandir in GA was vandalized and profanity was spray painted throughout the Mandir walls and in the main sanctum and on the Shiva lingam. Such events of Hindu/Jain/Buddhist temples getting vandalized are likely to happen in future, particularly in the South and therefore the Indian community needs some strong voice in the US Congress to protect its human rights including the places of worship. Hon. Tulsi can play an important role in providing the necessary help from the Federal government for such protection. Please note that other minorities in America have enough representation in the US government so that their human rights dont get violated as often as that of the Hindu community. I had few minutes chat with her and she told me that she is excited to meet Narendra Modi next month.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 03:12:15 +0000
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