Kansas Shooting – Is it a beginning of hate crimes against Indians or just one off attack

Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead & 2 persons (1 Indian and 1 US American) were injured in Kansas shooting. The attacker repeatedly asked both Indians that whether they were in the US illegally & then asked them to go back from America. Any loss of life is a big tragedy & we all feel sorry for the family which lost a young & bright son. Srinivas had faith in American culture & he had refused to leave USA against his wife wish. It has created panic in India & among Indian Americans living in USA. 

As per a few locals in Kansan this shooting was not politically motivated but a drunken mess (which is frequent in America). The same view is shared by local authorities. White House has been silent on this matter & its expected from Trump Administration. Many times, silence is the best statement. As per few reports the attacker confessed before his arrest that he had killed 2 middle-eastern men. As per former NYT reporter Anand Giridharadas’s article in DailyO, President Donald Trump has everything to do with this hooting. Many articles in Indian newspaper also shares the same idea. The US embassy in India, Indian foreign ministry have condemned this attach. But both Governments are still not taking about hate crimes against Indians.

Few Years ago, Indians were attacked multiple times in Australia and those attacks were indeed racial hate attacks against Indians. The Australian Govt. understood the gravity of situation & took swift actions against the attackers. Australian Govt. also reached out to Indian diaspora & Indian citizens that Australia was safe for Indians. Gradually the number of attacks came down & number of Indian professionals & students increased in Australia. Whole world is aware about anti-immigration policies of President Trump. Many of his voters also supported that idea. It seems that Americans in old industrial & manufacturing towns are angry over their job loss. But I don’t think they have anger against Indians in particular. Indians have not been involved in any terrorist attacks & Indian-Americans are considered to be a progressive community & it was acknowledged by both Democrats & Republicans in last election. And we are a friendly nation to America – a non-NATO defense partner.     

It’s the time for US administration & US embassy in India to take similar steps taken by Australian authorities few years back. Whatever the new President says or thinks, America can’t afford to ignore India. We are third biggest economy (on terms of Purchasing Power) and even an inward looking America can’t ignore us. Indian Govt. should also reach to Americans to safeguard their citizen’s interest in USA. And Indians must also respect the local culture & country. Even in India, we have seen many attacks on people belonging to different states. Tamils have been attacked in Karnataka and vice versa, North Indians have been targeted in Mumbai, North Eastern people in Delhi, Bengali people in Assam etc. But this doesn’t mean that we are intolerant with people from another region. A few Americans may hate their jobs going to India or Indians but they certainly don’t hate Indians.