Poster of the Week - Trump’s Latest Bromance

It is Ten Years Since…

Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT)

Offset, 1999

New Delhi, India 46092

One of Donald Trump’s many false claims is that he is a champion of religious freedom. He is now claiming that Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, also supports freedom of religion. This assertion comes in the midst of ongoing violent demonstrations in India — which were also taking place during Trump’s visit — in which at least 38 people have died, hundreds injured, and a mosque defiled. The Intercept described mobs of Hindu supremacists and the police confronting Muslims protesting India’s new Citizenship Law that threatens their status as equal citizens, based on their religion. Both Trump and Modi share an anti-Muslim position.

India’s constitution asserts that it is a secular nation [i.e. separation of church and state]. So does the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to merge Christianity with U.S. law, threatens our secular tradition, just as India’s new Citizenship Law clearly violates theirs.

CSPG’s Poster of the Week features Safdar Hashmi (1954-1989), an activist with the Student Federation of India, communist playwright, and labor activist, who was murdered by government thugs while performing political street theater. He was 34 years old and has become an icon for secularism in India.

The poster says,

“Are we going to sing songs during the time of struggle?

Yes, we are going to sing the songs about struggle.”