Net neutrality: Ajit Pai racially insulted by Indian Americans
WASHINGTON: Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has come under racist attacks for his plan to rollback Obama-era regulation of Internet called “net neutrality”, and a lot of it from fellow IndianAmericans who have unleashed a string of barbs tied to his Indian origins.
“Ajit Pai is the type of Indian guy who eats dosa with a fork,” wrote Hari Kondabolu, an Indian-American comedian, on Twitter just days after Pai announced his plan.
Similar tweets by others called Pai the type of Indian who calls “chai … chai tea”, who “thinks Lassi is a dog (from Lassie the female star dog of a novel and a TV series)”, who says “Naan bread”, and whose favorite Amitabh Bachchan movie is the Great Gatsby (in which the Bollywood superstar had a short role)”.
On Sunday, after Indiaspora, an organisation of Indian Americans condemned the slight campaign “led by an Indian American comedian”, Kondabolu retaliated with another tweet. “Dear @AjayPaiFCC , I apologize for my tweets questioning your ‘Brown-ness’. You are not a disappointment to Indian Americans...but to all Americans. You can eat a pakora while destroying #NetNeutrality. You can wear a kurta while catering to corporate interests, #AjitPaiSucks”
Net neutrality, as enforced by the FCC under the Obama administration in 2015, prevents internet service providers from slowing down, blocking or speeding up net connection; every website enjoys equal access and speed. Undoing it, critics argue, will allow ISPs to regulate net access.