Hindu Group in India Asks Gods to Help Trump Win Election

Activists of right-wing Hindu Sena or Hindu Army make offerings to the fire god while conducting Hindu rituals to ensure a win for U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Photo: Saurabh Das / Associated Press

NEW DELHI — Around a dozen members of a right-wing Hindu group have lit a ritual fire and chanted mantras asking the Hindu gods to help Donald Trump win this year's U.S. 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.

On Wednesday, members of the Hindu Sena nationalist 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 color photos of a shouting Trump.

The group chanted Sanskrit prayers asking the gods to favor Trump in the election.

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"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 smiling 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 favor Trump in the election, and threw offerings such as seeds, grass and ghee — or clarified butter — into a small ritual fire.

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 Photo: Saurabh Das / Associated Press

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Story: Associated Press