Attacks against Indian-origin people in US another conundrum for India
national and two Indian origin US citizens were attacked in that country recently.
Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, became the first victim of hate crime. He was killed when 51-year-old US Navy veteran Adam Purinton opened fire at him and his friend Alok Madasani at a bar after yelling “get out of my country.”
It seemed a clear case of hate crime against the Indian national.
Then came to the light the death of 43-year-old Harnish Patel, an owner of a convenience store, in Lancaster County, South Carolina. He was found dead of gunshot wounds in the courtyard of his home on Thursday. Patel was a US national and the county officials are of the view that what had happened looked like a burglary attempt going totally wrong and further investigations are on. But India had to rush consular officers to the spot.
In a third incident, an Indianorigin Sikh man was shot at in his driveway in Kent in Washington district by a masked assailant who shouted at him to “go back to your own country”
The Indian embassy in Washington swung into action and identified the victim as Deep Rai, 39-- again an American national.
The situation is tricky for the government. The fabled melting pot that US has been is now seeing attacks on brown-skinned people. Irrespective of their nationality, an Indian origin person is an Indian for most. For the Modi government which takes immense pride in its diaspora— both non-resident Indians and people of Indian origin, the prevailing situation leaves it with not too many options either.