Now that photos and videos of January 6’s storming of the US Capitol are doing the rounds on social media, several Indians were astounded to notice that among the many flags and banners being waved by pro-Trump protestors was also the Indian tricolour.
Some users on Twitter though were particularly quick to insinuate the political and ideological leanings of the individual carrying the Indian flag, without knowing anything about their identity.
Indian flag seen with Confederate flags at the US Capitol shows the developing strong links between a group of Indian diaspora & the far-right groups. As I have been warning it for years, this bringing bad name to the Indian diaspora community and also harming India's interest.
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 7, 2021
While one Twitter user alleged “strong links” between the “Indian diaspora & the far-right groups” — which, apparently “bring[s] a bad name to the Indian diaspora community and also harm[s] India’s interest — another user claiming to be a “Fact-checker” in his Twitter bio slammed the tricolour-waving individual as a “Bhakt”.
Bhakts with @realDonaldTrump
🇺🇲🤝🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/JJMTrxsPmR— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 7, 2021
Yes only NRI "Bhakts" can defame 1.2 Million Indians by holding Indian Tricolour and be a part of the Right wirng crowd attacking #CapitolBuilding #CapitolHill 🥰 https://t.co/DwKhwWZYG0
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 7, 2021
Unfortunately, the “Fact-Checker” got his facts wrong.
A Republican
The person waving the Indian national flag while Trump supporters besieged the US Capitol is Vincent Xavier, a Trump supporter from Fairfax County, Virginia.
Vincent Xavier is a person of Indian Origin who identifies himself as a social and fiscal conservative. He is also Executive Director at the Indo-American Center according to his social media profile. His Twitter and Facebook timelines announce his avid support for President Trump. He is also the Vice Chair, Community Outreach for the Fairfax County Republican Committee.
A Modi critic
Vincent Xavier is also critic of the Modi-led BJP government, as is evident from his social media. In one instance, he goes as far as calling PM Modi a “snake”. He definitely cannot be called a “Bhakt” by any measure .
While Congress MP Shashi Tharoor denounced the pro-Trump protests, Vincent Xavier replied that he is an American patriot, who — with other American patriots of different national and racial origins — joined a rally in solidarity with Trump due to the allegations of voter fraud in the 20202 US Presidential elections.
Interestingly, he appears to be an admirer of the same Congress leader who denounced him and his fellow Trump supporters. In April of 2015, as mentioned in a Facebook post where he gushes about the Congress MP’s eloquence, Vincent Xavier had lunch with Shashi Tharoor at Washington DC and was a member of the audience at a talk given by Tharoor at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. Vincent also says in his post that he invited the Congress leader to an event organised by the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas (FOMAA) at Trivandrum, Kerala.
