NEW DELHI: Around a dozen members of a right-wing Indian Hindu group lit a ritual fire and chanted mantras Wednesday asking the fire gods to help Donald Trump win the US presidential election.

While Trump has dominated the Republican primary race to decide the party’s candidate for the November election, his calls for temporarily banning Muslims from America and cracking down on terrorist groups abroad have earned him some fans in faraway India.

“The whole world is screaming against Islamic terrorism, and even India is not safe from it,” said Vishnu Gupta, founder of the Hindu Sena nationalist group. “Only Donald Trump can save humanity.”

Members of the group gathered on a blanket spread out in a New Delhi protest park along with a collection of statues depicting gods including Shiva and Hanuman — as well as photos of a shouting Trump.

Above them hung a banner declaring support for Trump “because he is hope for humanity against Islamic terror”.

The group chanted Sanskrit prayers asking the gods to favour Trump in the election, and threw offerings such as seeds, grass and ghee — or clarified butter — into a small ritual fire.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016