The Wire Talks | There is a Sense of Complacency Among Indian Americans That We Are Doing Quite Well
The strong statements by President Trump against India are echoed by the growing anti-Indian sentiment in parts of the country. No longer are Indians viewed as the model minority — well educated, successful, tax-paying members of the US. Instead, they are rousing the anger of local communities.
Some of the traits which are not very well liked, says journalist and author Salil Tripathi who lives in the US, “such as noisy celebrations, weddings, and you know, you take over the entire street and then after the after the wedding is over, you have a lot of garbage on the street or something like that. All of those things are attracting unwanted and untoward attention.”
He says the soft power of India is very much visible – Ravi Shankar was popular and now Yoga is, but such things are “a little more in your face,” he says in this podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia.
Much of the attacks are coming via social media and from Christian evangelists. However, this is mainly in small towns, not in the big cities. He said Indians are successful in the corporate sector, in academia, in the professions. But it gets talked about in the context of the H-1B visa. “if you are an Indian citizen on a green card, or trying to get a green card from H-1B, then people suddenly realise that it's not that simple anymore.”
He points out that there is a lot of sectarianism, based on class and caste both. He gives the example of a US Dalit activist whose invitation to speak at Google was rescinded when other Indians working in the community protested “claiming this was not a problem here.”
Tripathi says India buying Russian oil, or not opening markets for American companies or not giving any credit to the US of ending hostilities after Operation Sindoor – all that creates resentment. “And there is definitely an assumption that the Indians are gaming the H-1B system.”
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