Mathura Sridharan, an Indian-origin woman, who has been appointed as Ohio’s 12th Solicitor General, is facing online racial trolling over her complexion and for wearing a bindi on her forehead.
Attorney General Dave Yost announced the appointment and wrote on X: “AG Yost today named Mathura Sridharan as his pick for Ohio’s 12th solicitor general, the state’s top attorney for appeals in state and federal courts.”
Following her appointment, Sridharan will now represent Ohio in high-stakes cases before state and federal appeals courts.
According to The Federalist Society website, Sridharan is currently serving as the Deputy Solicitor General in Ohio’s Office of the Solicitor General.
“She also directs Ohio’s Tenth Amendment Center for which she initiates and directs suits to defend Ohioans against unlawful federal policies and to preserve separation of powers between the federal and state governments,” read the website.
Before joining the Ohio Solicitor’s Office, Sridharan clerked for Judge Steven J. Menashi of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Deborah A. Batts of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Following her appointment, she has faced online trolling for wearing a bindi, typically worn by Indian women.
One of the Internet users wrote on X: “Why not an American?”
Another said: “Dot on forehead”
An internet user said, “This person is not an American.”
Amid the trolls she was facing online, Yost came out in support of Sridharan’s appointment and said: “A few commenters have asserted incorrectly that Mathura is not American.”
“She is a United States citizen, married to a US citizen, and the child of naturalised US citizens. If her name or her complexion bother you, the problem is not with her or her appointment,” he said.
