The Ghar Wapsi of Bobby Jindal?

Bobby ‘Evangelical Catholic’ Jindal is a sticky wicket for Hindus in India and America.

Why is Republican Jindal, ‘Christian Jindal’, Indians and NRIs are asking.

They are unhappy that the Indian-origin US presidential candidate has distanced himself from his Hindu and Indian roots.

In fact, right after Jindal said he was ‘done with’ descriptions that identified Americans as Indian Americans or African Americans at his campaign launch on Wednesday, a Twitter hashtag BobbyJindalIsoWhite was started by the Indian American community.

Bobby Jindal Declares His White House Intentions

Bobby Jindal’s Christian conversion is yet another sticky wicket for the Hindus back home and in America. The Louisiana Governor and U.S. presidential candidate identifies as an Evangelical Catholic.

But the Evangelical Jindal, who was born Piyush Jindal, was raised in a strong Hindu environment by his parents, when they arrived in Louisiana from India in 1971.

His parents, Bobby Jindal wrote in a column, were infuriated by his conversion from Hinduism to Christianity.

The Hindu Divide

Jindal is among only a handful of Indian Americans who have converted to Christianity.

According to a Pew Research Center study, out of every five Americans raised as Hindus, four (80%) continue to identify themselves as Hindus as adults. In fact, the survey proclaims that no other major religious group has a higher retention rate.

Half (51%) of Indian Americans are Hindus. However, overall, Hindus remain less than 1% of the U.S. adult population.

Jindal’s Search for a True Faith

Jindal has said that he felt “a void” in his religious faith. He then began searching for an objectively true faith that would lead him to God.

Bobby Jindal’s Ghar Wapsi?

Leaving Hinduism and embracing evangelical Christianity has shaped Bobby Jindal’s image as one who is eager to leave his roots behind. And while it has cemented Jindal’s position as an ever-rising star in Republican circles, it has created an unbridgeable gap between himself and Indians everywhere, according to a Foreign Policy editorial.

Thus, Hindu hotheads in India may not take too kindly to his conversion. Though their ghar wapsi campaign is currently in limbo, will they raise an alarm at Bobby’s inflexible religious stance?

Adept at reconverting Hindus who’ve ‘gone astray’, we wonder if Evangelical Catholic Jindal will give them a reason to start Ghar Wapsi 2.0.