The escalating series of racially-motivated attacks against Indians in the US over the past few days has evoked strong reactions among Indians even as it fails to grab attention in America.
Expressing concern over continued racial attacks against Indians abroad, the Congress on Tuesday hit out at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for its “silence” on the issue. “People of Indian origin and Indian citizens are dying and are being threatened and are being told to go back from different countries but government of the day is absolutely silent,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
The Congress leader drew attention to PM Modi’s extensive trips and speeches to NRIs, wondered why he was silent on this issue even when he has been “using” them for votes.
Deep Rai, a US Sikh national of Indian origin, techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Gujarati businessman Harnish Patel were killed in separate attacks in the US.
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh sought the Union government's intervention in ensuring protection of Indians' living abroad. In a statement issued, Captain Amarinder said that the growing intolerance and the spate of violence targeting the Indian diaspora in the US has serious implications for the country and needed to be checked. He accused the Union government of failure to take up the issue.
"Whatever, the provocation or the motivation, these attacks were tantamount to murder and attempted murder and needed to be tackled as crimes, with exemplary and deterrent punishment to the culprits," he said. The Sikh Coalition, a Sikh rights group has asked US authorities to investigate the attack on Deep Rai as a hate crime.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj reacted to the attack on an Indian-origin Sikh man in Kent, saying that she has spoken to the victim’s family and he is now out of danger.