'Not like some performance artist': Indian-origin Trump cabinet member shows how to eat daal-rice with spoon, takes a jibe at Mamdani
Without naming NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Harmeet K Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice, waded into the rice controversy as she shared a photo of rice and lentils in two different pots with spoons in both of them.
"Mom sent me home from the weekend with daal and rice...which I'm hearing and eating with a spoon -- not like some like some performance artist LARPing philistine!" Dhillon, who was born in India (Punjab) wrote.
A major controversy broke out as a video of Zohran Mamdani eating rice with his hand went viral. The anti-Mamdani sentiments soon turned into anti-India as eating with hands is an accepted form of eating in India.
GOP leader, Congressman Brandon Gill called Mamdani uncivilized as he pointed out that civilized people in America don't eat with their hands. "If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World," Gill wrote. The Congressman was reminded that his wife is of Indian-origin and she definitely eats with her hand.
Brandon Gill's wife Danielle D'Souza Gill joined the debate and said she did not grow up eating rice with her hands and always used a fork.
"I did not grow up eating rice with my hands and have always used a fork. I was born in America. I'm a Christian MAGA patriot. My father's extended family lives in India and they are also Christian and they use forks too," Danielle wrote.
Danielle's father Dinesh D'Souza, a Conservative commentator who was born in India, said eating with hands is gross in America, but not in India. Reating to a now viral photo of him eating with his hand, D'Souza wrote: "My culture lesson for Mamdani: Eating with your hands is acceptable when it's bread, naan or pizza.
Not when it's soup, meatloaf or mashed potatoes. Indians sometimes eat rice with their hands in India, but it's much more common in rural areas.
In America, it's considered gross."
What is the row over eating rice with hands?
Mamdani's video grossed many Americans out but a section of social media users debated that it was not eating with hand that disgusted them but Mamdani choosing to do so for a video while he definitely does not use his hands always for eating came across as performative modesty that Mamdani was aiming at.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
10 minutes ago
- Time of India
Quad condemns Pahalgam attack, seeks action against perpetrators but no mention of any terror group
The Quad foreign ministers strongly condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack in a joint statement, calling for the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the 'reprehensible act' to be brought to justice without any delay. It also urged all UN States to cooperate with 'all relevant authorities' in this regard, without naming Pakistan or India. In his opening remarks at the meeting in Washington, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had said India expected Quad – a strategic grouping of leading maritime nations committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific – to understand and appreciate India's right to defend its citizens from cross-border terrorism. This was the first Quad ministerial since the April 22 Pahalgam attack and the subsequent India-Pakistan conflict that ended with India's bombing of Pakistan air bases. 'We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others,' said the Quad statement, expressing deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The UN Security Council (UNSC) statement condemning the attack in April seemed to have acted as a template for the Quad, the former having urged UN States to cooperate with all relevant authorities – without specifically mentioning India - in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UNSC resolutions. Like with the UNSC condemnation, there was also no mention of the perpetrator group – The Resistance Front (TRF) – in the Quad statement. As a non-permanent Council member, Pakistan had worked to water down the UNSC statement with support from Beijing. 'We call for the perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UNSCRs, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard,' added the Quad statement. Like in the past, the Quad ministerial unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, renewing commitment to counterterrorism cooperation. Apart from India, Quad comprises the US, Australia and Japan, all of which had separately condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack. India, however, was keen that Quad do so in a joint statement for a more impactful response to Pakistan's role in the attack and its support for cross-border terrorism. It was a fair expectation, given Quad's strong condemnation of cross-border terrorism in the past too, like after the foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo last year in July. On that occasion, Quad had strongly condemned 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks, calling for bringing the perpetrators of these attacks to justice without delay, and naming UN-proscribed groups including Pakistan-based JeM and LeT for concerted action against them by the international community. There was no mention this time of any Pakistan terror group or the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks in the Quad statement.
Hindustan Times
11 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
PM Modi's historic Ghana visit: Trade doubled, UPI goes global, 4 MoUs signed
Jul 03, 2025 01:19 AM IST Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ghana's Accra on Wednesday, marking the first visit by an Indian PM to the African country in over 30 years. As he stepped onto Ghanaian soil, PM Modi was greeted with chants of 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a warm welcome from the Indian diaspora on Wednesday at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.(DPR PMO ) The Indian Prime Minister was personally received by President John Mahama, who presented him with a ceremonial guard of honour. Later, PM Modi held a delegation-level meeting with President Mahama at Jubilee House in Accra. PM Modi's visit was steeped in symbolism, powerful quotes, and warm gestures that underscored the deep-rooted friendship between the two nations. PM Modi's Ghana visit: Top quotes "We were unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity. We thank Ghana for its cooperation in our fight against terrorism. We have decided to strengthen our cooperation in counter-terrorism. Our views regarding the UN reforms are similar," said PM Modi after talks with Ghana's President Mahama. "We believe that this is not the time for a war. Problems must be solved through dialogue and diplomacy," PM Modi said. "In the field of defence and security, we will move forward with the mantra of 'Security through Solidarity' "India is not just a partner but a co-traveller in Ghana's journey of nation-building," PM Modi said. "Our bilateral trade has crossed USD 3 billion. Indian companies have invested 2 billion dollars in around 900 projects. We have decided to double our trade within the next 5 years. In the area of FinTech, Bharat UPI will share the digital payment experience with Ghana," PM Modi said. "It is a matter of pride for India that under our G20 presidency, the African Union got permanent membership of the G20," the Prime Minister said. India signs 4 MoUs with Ghana: Details India and Ghana on Wednesday inked four agreements following talks between PM Narendra Modi and Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama. MoU on Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP): To promote greater cultural understanding and exchanges in art, music, dance, literature, and heritage. To promote greater cultural understanding and exchanges in art, music, dance, literature, and heritage. MoU between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA): Aimed at enhancing cooperation in standardisation, certification, and conformity assessment. Aimed at enhancing cooperation in standardisation, certification, and conformity assessment. MoU between the Institute of Traditional & Alternative Medicine (ITAM), Ghana and the Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), India : To collaborate in traditional medicine education, training, and research. : To collaborate in traditional medicine education, training, and research. MoU on Joint Commission Meeting: To institutionalise high-level dialogue and review bilateral cooperation mechanisms on a regular basis.
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
India now sole govt. with vote in emoji, text standards body Unicode Consortium
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) rejoined the Unicode Consortium as a Supporting Member this year, becoming one of just two government members with a vote on the body. The consortium and its technical body are in charge of determining the text and emojis that are standard across the internet, and have played a major role in ensuring that languages around the world, including Indian languages, are recognised by computer systems globally. The IT Ministry was previously a member from 2000 to 2019, and then for one year in 2021. The IT Ministry has not issued any statement announcing its membership, which has been listed on the consortium's website as the 'Government of India', with a link to MeitY's website. The membership, which allows the Indian government a half vote in the technical committee's decision making — and a seat at the table at its meetings, mostly held in the U.S. and online — represents an annual $20,000 commitment, or about ₹17 lakh. The IT Ministry has been a member of the consortium as a part of the decades-old Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) initiative, which sought to promote, at first, an Indian alternative to ASCII, the pre-Unicode limited character set, and later on cooperated with efforts to internationalise Indian scripts by including them in Unicode. In 2023, The Hindu reported on how the Tamil Virtual Academy, an e-learning institute that operates autonomously under Tamil Nadu's Information Technology and Digital Services Department, had run up over $200,000 in membership fees over more than a decade, but did not attend a single meeting, or engage meaningfully with the body beyond 2016, while proprietary non-Unicode typefaces continued to be used across the State government's arms. The Tamil Virtual Academy remains a member, the only other Supporting Member globally apart from the IT Ministry. Other State governments, like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, have briefly held memberships, but discontinued them. The IT Ministry was not present at the latest series of meetings of the Unicode Technical Committee, held from April 22–24.
