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Sikh Republican leader Harmeet Dhillon made headlines by reciting 'Ardas,' a Sikh prayer, at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. Many hailed it as a notable moment of cultural and religious representation by a party that’s seen as predominantly white, conservative, and Christian.
Dhillon recited the opening part of the 'Ardas' in Gurmukhi before praying in English for America, the American voters, and thanking God for protecting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from an attempted assassination.
However, Dhillon also came under fire from a section of those who deemed the prayer "anti-Christian" and "blasphemous". Christian fundamentalists and ultra-conservatives took to social media to troll her.
“ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!,” tweeted conservative Christian commentator Behizy. “I have nothing but respect for Harmeet Dhillon but fire whoever invited her to pray to a foreign god, there is only one true God we pray to and his name is not whatever she said. His name is YAHWEH and his only begotten Son is Jesus Christ.”
Others accused Dhillon of being a pagan and termed the Sikh blessing "witchcraft".
“How about you get deported instead, you pagan blasphemer. God saves our president and the RNC mocks him with this witchcraft,” tweeted far-right political activist Lauren Witzke.
“You can worship freely, but you should not promote your non-Christian religion at the GOP convention,” said one X user.
Another X user said reciting a Sikh prayer at the RNC was “embarrassing.”
“America is a Christian country. We literally had an excellent Christian prayer before this that mentioned Jesus Christ. This was unnecessary, performative, and blasphemous,” X user Connor Mahoney tweeted.
Dhillon, a civil rights attorney, was having none of it. “Blocking quite a few people...” she tweeted.
When Behizy came at her again, saying he has a problem with "going on a stage full of Christians and declaring your god to be the one true God", Dhillon replied sharply, "There is only one God."
Despite the online backlash, Dhillon expressed feeling warmly welcomed by the Republican audience during the event.
“It was silent. People bowed their heads. It was very respectful,” she told the New York Post. “And when I left the stage, I was hugged and people took selfies with me. Not a single word of criticism inside the room.”
Dhillon added, “Overall, while the voices of haters can be amplified artificially online, I would say the vast majority of the response to my prayer by mainstream Republicans has been positive, and I’m grateful for that.”
