Indian-Americans protest against prejudice-driven crimes
The Indian community in the US is affected by the anti-immigrant statements from the administration and by the dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries
Indian-Americans in the US recently organised a peaceful awareness protest in front of the White House, pushing towards President Donald Trump’s intrusion in the increasing hate crimes motivated by both xenophobia and Islamophobia that have been particularly affecting Hindus and Sikhs living in the country.
In a latest appeal to the US President Donald Trump, by the recently established Coalition of Indian-American organisations of the US, the Indian community pushed him to step in and lay hold of the people performing hate crimes against the people of Indian origin in the country.
According to the petition, Indian-Americans and the Indian diaspora are in distress and are concerned for the safety of their families as the racially motivated hate crimes have been perpetrated against them across the country in form of gun violence, vandalism, verbal harassment and slogans like, ‘Go back to your country.’
Lately, many Sikhs and Hindus have been mistaken for being Muslims or from the Middle East and thus, are being ill-treated and victimised. In view of the recent increase in hate crimes against the community, which are believed to be a result of Islamophobia and xenophobia, the Indian-Americans held a peaceful demonstration in and around the Greater Washington area.
Recently, an Indian IT personnel in Kansas was killed after being mistaken for being an Arab and a Muslim. His colleague and an American were also injured in the incident, where a Navy veteran fired at them and told them to ‘get out of his country’ at a bar in Olathe City.
In another melee, an Indian-origin convenience store owner was shot dead outside his home in Lancaster County, South Carolina, earlier this month.
However, this is not all. Other cases of Indian-Americans being killed have also been reported recently. One such case came to light earlier, where a Sikh man was injured by a masked gunman, who shouted,“Go back to your own country” and shot him outside his home in Kent, Washington.
Similarly, an Indian-origin girl became a victim of racial abuse when an African-American in New York called her names and told her to ‘get out of here’ when she was travelling in a commuter train.
The Indian community in the US believes that these incidents are a result of anti-immigrant statements from the administration and are also motivated by dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries. Thus, the rally was to cast around for political support and cooperation, and to appeal to the president to show his support and take steps to put an end to the hate.
“A message should go out to the people of this country from the administration that no citizen should take the law into their hands and it will not be tolerated by the government,” said the petition.
