US YouTuber Row: A massive controversy erupted in the United States after conservative YouTuber Jesse Hughes called for the removal of a 90-foot statue of Lord Hanuman in Texas. While the statue has been the centre of controversy since its consecration in 2024, a fresh row began after Hughes, while sharing the photograph of the statue, pledged to remove it. Hughes' remarks faced massive backlash from the Hindu community, calling it "threat against Hinduism".
Hughes Shares Controversial Post
While sharing the photographs of the statue located at the Asthalaxmi Temple in Sugar Land, Hughes wrote, "Btw, when we win, we are tearing this down". This statement is in line with the earlier remarks of the extremist groups who defined the statue "un-Christian".
Hindu Community Reacts
Ruchir Bakshi, a US Army veteran, slammed the Youtuber for his ambition and called it unpatriotic and threat against the Hinduism. Bakshi further alleged that the extremists like Hughes are attempting to hurt the people with different religious beliefs. "It is a threat against Hinduism itself to vandalise another American community’s house of worship because you hate the faith inside it," the veteran said.
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What CoHNA Said?
"If winning in America means demolishing Hindu temples, you don’t want the country I fought for. You just want a license to go after people who aren't you," he added. Apart from this, in a post on X, the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), while reacting to Bakshi's comments, also pledged to fight against the radical beliefs.
"We share your horror at the open religious bigotry being mainstreamed on this platform and are proud to fight it alongside you," CoHNA said in a post on X. The anti-immigration narrative has taken a centre stage ahead of the midterm election campaign. Texas has been a stronghold of the Republican party since 1994.