Louisiana Gov. Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, famous for telling fellow Republicans to “stop being the stupid party” has reversed his position and joined a group of “unlikely” presidential candidates who would do anything to appease a small, yet noisy fringe, aka “the base” of the republican party; the Chirtsian religious right-wing.

Referred to as the “most experienced presidential hopeful” Jindal, 43, son of Indian immigrants, is courting the religious right for brownie points, and possible presidential nomination. This right wing fringe doesn’t have enough votes to send Jindal to the White House, but they are noisy and control several media outlets of choice (Fox News being the most prominent) catering to the paranoid xenophobe market segment.

Besides going to all-day prayer rallies, Jindal is desperately trying to galvanise this base by warning America that Muslim immigrants are coming to colonise and impose Sharia Law. He recently told the Family Research Council’s Washington Watch radio programme, “If they [Muslims] want to come here and they want to set up their own culture and values, that’s not immigration. That’s really invasion, if you’re honest about it”.

In the United States, the Christian right’s new best friend is a governor of Indian origin

Jindal is also concerned that UK has allowed Muslims to establish autonomous neighbourhoods in cities where they govern by Sharia; he calls them “no-go-zones”. Caught with his foot in his mouth recently when CNN’s Max Foster challenged him to name these “no-go-zones” in England, Jindal said he had “heard from folks here [London] that there are neighbourhoods where women don’t feel comfortable going in without veils ... we all know that there are neighbourhoods where police are less likely to go into. I think that the radical Left absolutely wants to pretend like this problem is not here. Pretending it’s not here won’t make it go away.”

When challenged again on air to name names Jindal said: “I think your viewers know absolutely there are places where the police are less likely to go”.

When asked if the “no-go-zones” had anything to do with high crime rates rather than religion, Jindal jumped to defend religion: “I know the Left wants to make this into an attack on religion and that’s not what this is. What we are saying, it’s absolutely an issue for the UK, absolutely is an issue for America and other European and Western nations.”

Recently when all other presidential hopefuls were lining up in Iowa for throwing their hat into the ring, Jindal was attending a national spiritual revival rally and urging event attendees “to proselytise on behalf of their Christian beliefs.”

His recent swing is rather interesting because for a brief moment Jindal had become the “voice of reason” pushing Republicans to make a concerted effort to reach a broader swath of voters, and not just cater to the rich, the religious fanatics and the tea party.

His public engagements over past few weeks make it abundantly clear that he recognises the relevance of religion and will do anything to leverage the power of the Holy Bible for personal and political gain.

Waving a Bible in his hand and a big smile on his face, Jindal entered the Baton Rouge stage of the American Family Association, for the annual all-day prayer rally, (a la “the Ijtimah” in Raiwind, with a major difference that this is a gender-neutral event) to a standing ovation. For this was Jindal’s proverbial “Sonderweg” — special path.

All he needs is God’s help and the tea party’s support to become a frontline presidential runner so he can raise enough money to launch a campaign.

If you are wondering how could an educated man with degrees in science from institutions like Brown and Oxford reconcile with theocentric and metaphysical worldviews, wonder no more. Politicians, academics and pundits concur that even in the secular West; religion still plays an important role.

For example, read contemporary social scientist Jurgen Habermas, and you will wonder if the leftist secular project has retired. He calls it post-secular;

“The visible conflicts that flare up in connection with religious issues give us reason to doubt whether the relevance of religion has waned.”

In fact, unlike Europe, the United States of America was never envisioned to be free from religion; it was a land where one was free to practice religion. Even though, America’s forefather constitutionally separated church and state; religion never lost public influence and relevance. America still has vibrant religious communities, religiously committed and active citizens and the Americans continue to be the spearheads of modernisation.

Habermas suggests that the religious modern American society exemplifies the norm. Maybe, that’s the reason Muslim communities in America can assimilate yet retain their religious identity.

Despite a slight surge in right-wing sponsored Islamophobia since September 2001, the majority of Americans have not paid heed.

Bobby Jindal is playing Russian roulette with Islamophobia, but you can bet your last dollar that unless he appeals to the mainstream, reasonable Americans, he will not be the Republican 2016 presidential candidate.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 15th, 2015

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