Religious attacks against Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi raise concerns among Democrats

At issue is the conduct of Pieter Friedrich, a longtime and vocal critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been in office since 2014 and is a member of a Hindu nationalist party.

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Friedrich was the keynote speaker at one protest held outside Krishnamoorthi’s district office in Schaumburg, Illinois, where demonstrators can be heard on video chanting, “Krishnamoorthi murdabad.” That translates in Urdu to “down with” or “death to.” Friedrich tweeted this on June 3.

Friedrich has also repeatedly used social media to create a false link between Krishnamoorthi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an Indian Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization. Friedrich has commonly used the hashtags #Krishnamoorthimurdabad and #RSSRajaMustGo.

Krishnamoorthi said that is unfounded. The congressman, first elected to the House in 2016, recently called on his Democratic primary opponent in the new 8th Congressional District, technology consultant Junaid Ahmed, to stop promoting Friedrich. After all, Krishnamoorthi noted, Friedrich has a history of going after Hindu and Indian American political figures, including Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and California Democratic House hopeful Rishi Kumar, a member of the Saratoga City Council.

“This type of violent extremist rhetoric is completely unacceptable, and we have to condemn it for the sake of our children,” Krishnamoorthi said during a recent candidate forum.

Ahmed did not respond to requests for comment by the Washington Examiner.

The episode comes as members of Congress face increased threats. The New York Times reported earlier this year that in 2021, threats against members of Congress reached a record high of 9,600, according to data provided by the Capitol Police — double the previous year’s total.

And anti-Indian and anti-Hindu rhetoric, and sometimes more, is not unknown on Capitol Hill. In July 2007, a Hindu clergyman made history by offering the Senate’s morning prayer — but only after police officers removed three shouting protesters from the visitors’ gallery. For several days in advance of the Senate appearance by Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nevada, the Mississippi-based American Family Association has urged its members to object to the prayer because Zed would be “seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god,” the group said at the time.

Krishnamoorthi is among four Indian-Americans in the House, along with Bera and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). Krishnamoorthi was born in New Delhi, India, and moved with his family to the United States when he was 3 months old. Valedictorian of his Peoria, Illinois, high school class, Krishnamoorthi went on to college at Princeton University and then to Harvard Law School.

Krishnamoorthi’s current district covers parts of Cook, DuPage, and Kane counties. The new version of the district where he’s seeking reelection, starting in January 2023, will cover much of the same territory.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, a Democrat, said he is “deeply disturbed” by the vitriol used against the congressman. “Violent, extremist, and racist” language should be condemned by all Democrats, White said.

“I know Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi to be an outstanding Member of Congress and leader in our state. I was deeply disturbed that anti-gay and anti-abortion activist Pieter Friedrich used violent, extremist, and racist language toward Congressman Raja, and that his opponent, Junaid Ahmed, promoted Friedrich’s activities,” White said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

Jesse Jackson also slammed Ahmed for retweeting Friedrich.

“I was disgusted to watch the recently-surfaced video where Pieter Friedrich, an individual with a long track record of anti-gay and anti-abortion advocacy, spewed hate and even a death threat against Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in front of his office,” Jackson said in a statement. “The days of people like Friedrich making threats against non-white people, especially because of the color of their skin, their religious affiliation, or their country of origin must remain behind us.”

And the Hindu American Foundation took to social media to urge the FBI and Capitol Police to look into the matter and questioned whether Friedrich is being funded by foreign adversaries.

“We ask @TheDemocrats to be aware that activism against @CongressmanRaja is repeated against other Hindu candidates, & these Hinduphobic tropes of dual loyalty & smearing political participation of many hard working Hindu Americans as somehow suspect or foreign funded is dangerous,” the organization tweeted.

Krishnamoorthi told the Washington Examiner the language used is concerning and that more needs to be done to prevent the spread of misinformation about Indian American public officials.

“I’m no stranger to encountering people who have different perspectives from mine, but the kinds of attacks coming from Friedrich and his allies are something different altogether,” Krishnamoorthi said. “The vast majority of Americans see beyond differences in race, religion, and people’s backgrounds while rejecting violent rhetoric. But clearly, that doesn’t stop some extremists from trying to weaponize them.”

Friedrich has come under fire in the past for his support of the vandalization of Gandhi statues.

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Friedrich in an interview with the Washington Examiner denied using threatening language. He also denied having an anti-Hindu bias and receiving foreign funding to promote his views.

“I was at the protest, and nobody said that during the entire time, myself included,” Friedrich said about the anti-Hindu comments caught on video. Friedrich added that there are politicians who are Hindu and of Indian origin whom he has not criticized.