Trump’s actions fuelling hate crimes in the US

The two 32-year-old men were just enjoying a drink after work at a bar when racial slur and then bullets were fired at them. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, died, and Alok Madasani sustained serious injuries. That happened on February 22 in Kansas City. About two weeks before, miles away on the east coast at the Florida airport, the US immigration officials had detained Mohammed Ali Jr, the son of the legendary boxer, for hours when he was returning to home from Jamaica. He was questioned incessantly on ‘where he got his name from’ and ‘if he is a Muslim’. The two incidents, though separate, are raising alarms about the festering climate of hostility in the country. Many fear if such rising incidents of violence and discrimination are all inspired by the toxic political rhetoric of the Trump government. Even though the White House strongly rejects such a notion, it is hard to believe in what seems obvious.

Numbers, too point the same. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2016 unveiled statistics that point to the rising number of hate crimes against Muslims in the US. It has shot up to the highest levels since September 11, 2001 attacks. The polemical rhetoric of the government against refugees and a religion has emboldened people at the grassroots to abandon the virtues of peaceful coexistence. The sharp language used by the administration is further dehumanising groups of people, who after all, might not pose any harm to the country. The appointment of Stephen K. Bannon, Stephen Miller, and now Sebastian Gorka, who have a distorted view on Islam, too, is sending a wrong message in the US and across its borders. The gist of Trump’s worldview is that the country is locked in an ideological conflict with radical Islam. The truth is Trump’s poisonous campaign rhetoric and now his actions are unleashing the dark side of human nature, which is condemnable.