NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said not a word to condemn the hate crime against Indians in America, that has taken a life and injured others after US President Donald Trump came to power. Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar is currently in Washington to establish good, strategic relations with the Trump administration with a PM visit on the cards but there has been little from the Indian Foreign Office to suggest that the hate being built against the Indian community specifically in the US is being take up seriously with that country.

A video that has been posted on a site Save American Information Technology Jobs (with the above cover picture) has struck deep fear in the Indian community. As it has been taken by a stalker with a camera, who films Indian children playing what he describes as a migration sport Volleyball, with a vicious running commentary. “You see this whole area is all Indian...amazing number of jobs that have been taken away,” he says as he films little children playing and running about.

“Crazy Insanity,” says the stalker. “The Indians have ravished the Mid West, what has happened to all the American people who used to live here,” he says.



“Crazy Insanity,” says the stalker. “The Indians have ravished the Mid West, what has happened to all the American people who used to live here,” he says.

The site that has hosted this hate video goes by the acronym SAITJ has as its motto ‘The Job You Save Might Be Your Own’.

It goes on to state its mission : ‘To Save American IT Jobs for Future Generations’. And states alongside: “Can you imagine losing your job to a foreign worker and then training that foreign guest worker as your replacement? We ask anybody reading this, how would you like it?”

Clearly, given the specific purpose of this site the Indian workers in the US remain in its sights. And as the hate video demonstrates, there are no limits. In a section titled IT Heroes the site honours one Mike Emmons with his photograph and the slug: “He Got Even.”

And goes on to write about this ‘hero” : “It was June 2002 and Mike Emmons was living in Longwood Florida, working as a contractor for Siemens Information Communication Networks. Siemens management had informed their American employees that they would be laid off. But, first they said we want you to train your replacements. Once trained you will be given a severance. About 20 days later in came a slew of Indian workers; TATA Inc. Indian employees. Along with the Siemens employees, contractors were ordered to train their replacements but were not offered any severance. Siemens management just assumed the contractors would just go along with the program.

Sound familiar? It is paradoxical how things remain the same over a period of 15 years. People change, tastes change, priorities change, but IT workers are still training their replacements on the way out the door to the unemployment line.”

In another section ‘Know Thy Enemy’ the site lists these one by one. And at “Public Enemy Number Five for IT Workers in America” are the Indians. It states: “The Indian IT Mafia cannot be left out. They are external to the US political system. The Indian IT Mafia Mega firms have greatly harmed the American Information Technology Workforce for decades. Their notorious practices and collaborations with greedy US Corporations have resulted in USA IT professionals training their H-1B or L-1 Indian replacements in order to receive severance pay. This is outrageous. Outsourced IT professionals who have to train their foreign guest worker replacements have also been victims of job discrimination by the India-based IT services firms.

The prime examples are these companies: Infosys • Wipro • HCL •Cognizant • Tata (TCS) • Syntel • Larsen & Toubro Infotech •Mahindra Satyam• KRG • Satyam • Accenture • Tech Mahindra• Deloitte • Amdocs • Tech Mahindra

These Indian companies have ignored or shoved aside American IT professionals for years, whether through lay offs or by employment discrimination. These companies are 95% Indian and IT professionals who have trained their H-1B IT replacements are on the street unemployed. Many IT professionals have lost their homes and careers permanently. The Indian IT Mafia has through the years violated US laws and has been subject to several fines and have been found guilty of labor law violations and software thievery.”

Jaishankar has spoken of India’s concerns about H1-B visa although there is nothing to suggest from the news coming out of the Indian Foreign office about this visit that the issue of the security of Indians in the US has been discussed in some depth. Instead the Indian foreign secretary has been happy about the “degree of understanding” reached with the US during his visit with the usual certificate maintaining that the Trump administration “has a very positive view” about India-US relations.

"Overall, (the) sense was that the Administration has a very positive view of the relationship, positive view of India," said Jaishankar. "We saw a lot of goodwill and a lot of interest in taking the relationship forward," he said.

The silence seems deafening, more so as the issue is fast moving out of the space of visas into a direct threat to the security of Indians living and working in the US. PM Modi remained silent on the death of the 32 year old engineer Srinivas Kuchibotia who was shot dead by a US Navy veteran at a bar in Kansas. This despite the comments by several political leaders wondering why India had not taken this up officially, and why the Prime Minister who is vocal on all issues, chose to ignore this killing that was a clear hate crime.

This was followed by the murder of a convenience store owner Harnish Patel, 43 who was found dead with gunshot wounds in the front yard of his home in Lancaster Country, South Carolina. The police there is still investigating it but this killing too has struck fear in the Indian community judging from the panicking posts on the social media.

A young Sikh Deep Rai was shot at outside his home in Kent, Washington but is out of danger, and recovering from a bullet injury on his arm. He was working on his vehicle when a stranger walked up to him and fired. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Tweet, in a first since the Kansas shooting tweeted about it with a bland, “I am sorry to know about the attack on Deep Rai a US national of Indian origin. I have spoken to Sardar Harpal Singh father of the victim.He told me that his son had a bullet injury on his arm. He is out of danger and is recovering in a private hospital” as if it was just an ordinary law and order crime.

The Citizen asks the following questions, and awaits an answer from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs through their statements, briefings over the next days to demonstrate that it is looking at this issue seriously, and not just acting as an ambulance service:

1. Are these incidents of hate crime in the Indian government’s assessment?

2. Is the security of Indians living and working in the US now in danger?

3. Has New Delhi taken this up seriously with Washington, and at what level?

4. What has been the response?

5. Is New Delhi satisfied that all measures are being taken for the safety of the Indian community?

6. Has New Delhi proposed any measures that need to be taken immediately, and in the longer term for the protection of the Indians in the U.S?

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