We stumbled upon this long read on top of the main landing page of CNN. Whilst this attack speaks of the racist abuse of people of Indian origin in the United States – including abuse of prominent Republicans of Indian origin – it would be fair to say that the same thing is happening in the UK. There too our friends & relatives speak of having to deal with growing abuse. Harmeet Kaur writes:
“Indian immigrants and Indian Americans — or anyone perceived as Indian — are the latest target of a growing anti-migrant movement in the US and around the world. Over the past year, researchers at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate have documented a surge of anti-Indian sentiment on X that is showing no signs of abating. Raqib Naik, the center’s founder and executive director, said that his team recorded nearly 2,700 posts promoting racism and xenophobia against Indians and Indian Americans in October alone.”
So why are Indians increasingly the favoured targets for racist abuse? Four different factors seem to be at play. The first is what Elon Musk has done to X after he acquired Twitter:
“At least some of that might be explained by Elon Musk’s transformation of the platform: Since he took over, racist content that would previously have been policed by content moderators is now amplified and encouraged.”
The second driver – and something that we have seen at close quarters in India over the past decade – is that when senior political leaders target a community, their supporters pick-up on that and amplify the attack. Ms Kaur writes:
“This type of degrading rhetoric is not new, but it’s increasingly prominent from the political right. With the rise of once-fringe figures, and with President Donald Trump aggressively cracking down on nearly every type of immigration, some members of the MAGA coalition are openly suggesting that only white Christians belong in America.
“The call is coming from inside the house,” said Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, an editorial manager and analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue who has examined anti-Indian hate speech and the far right online.”
Thirdly, the success of Indian immigrants in general and the prominence enjoyed by superstars like Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai stirs jealousy amongst conservatives who are then only too happy to stir the pot. In Ms Kaur’s words:
“…the success and prominence of Indian Americans make them an easy target, said Rohit Chopra, a professor at Santa Clara University who studies far-right online communities and who co-authored the reports for the Center for the Study of Organized Hate with Naik. Indian immigrants and Indian Americans are among the highest-earning ethnic groups in the US, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data. They’ve ascended to top government posts and are CEOs of billion-dollar companies. They’re represented at the highest levels of media, entertainment, technology, business, medicine and academia.
“The public image of the Indian community has been that of these basically successful tech professionals and CEOs,” Chopra said. “And the Indian community and Indian American community significantly plays up that image too.””
The final dimension of this ramp-up in hatred against Indians is the change in the underlying tone of discourse by the cleverer right-wing politicians who are biding their time. US president JD Vance (who is ironically married to a lady of Indian descent) is at the vanguard of this strategy:
“Vance has also furthered ideas underlying such bigotry, though with more delicate language. In a speech at the Claremont Institute in July, he ruminated on what it meant to be an American. Merely embracing the nation’s foundational principles was not enough, he said, because it would potentially open the country to millions of foreigners and exclude some on the right who reject those same ideals. A better criterion might be one’s heritage, he added: “I think the people whose ancestors fought in the Civil War have a hell of a lot more claim over America than the people who say they don’t belong.”
In the speech, Vance conceded that there was room in the US for some immigrants, so long as they demonstrated sufficient gratitude. Too many, though, would threaten the fabric of the nation, he argued. “And what we’re doing is recognizing that if you stop importing millions of foreigners into the country, you allow that social cohesion to form naturally,” he said. “It’s hard to become neighbors with your fellow citizens when your own government keeps on importing new neighbors every single year at a record number.”
At this year’s White House Diwali celebration, Kash Patel used a conspicuous turn of phrase — one seemingly meant to distinguish himself from another kind of immigrant.
“It’s an honor to be a first-generation Indian American whose parents lawfully immigrated to this country,” he said.”
None of this should surprise us in India – we are used to routinely seeing the wolf whistle pulled out. It is just that in the American and British context the shoe is on the other foot and hence it saddens us to see our friends and relatives being put under the pump for no fault of theirs.
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