Anti-India Racism Peaks In America | Indian Professionals Face Public Hostility

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Viewers, before Thursday's lead story, let's take a vital detour. We want to put out a specific word on your radar tonight.

[00:00:08]And this word we want to put out while it remains entirely absent from mainstream dictionaries till now. In fact, if you look it up Collins Dictionary, you'll only find it hidden away in their user-submitted new word suggestions database, which is not yet in fact been accepted into the official lexicon.

[00:00:26]But yes, it's a real world fallout is actively directing bilateral ties between Washington and New Delhi.

[00:00:33]Meanwhile, let me just introduce you to the word Indophobia right here next to me.

[00:00:38]You see, it's a term that defines prejudice, discrimination, and irrational hatred targeted directly at India and Indians. But you may ask why we're even discussing this right now.

[00:00:51]Because highly skilled Indian professionals in the United States, viewers, they're facing an unprecedented wave of public hostility. You see, online harassment has steadily evolved into real-world confrontation.

[00:01:03]It's shaking the very security apparatus of the Indian diaspora in the US.

[00:01:09]And viewers, this crisis has once again captured national attention through a raw exchange involving one Saumitra Shukla.

[00:01:17]You may ask who's this Saumitra Shukla?

[00:01:19]Well, he's a Harvard research fellow and a Yale-educated economist from India's Jharkhand state.

[00:01:25]You see, Shukla posted critique of the relentless anti-Indian rhetoric targeting immigrants.

[00:01:30]But what happened, you see, within hours, thousands of hostile accounts flooded his timeline demanding he leave the country ASAP, or as soon as possible. The situation then shifted when prominent US economist Stephen Durlauf intervened to publicly defend the young scholar.

[00:01:47]Durlauf said, and I'm quoting here, "Saumitra is a rising star in inequality research and epitomizes the overwhelming contemporary importance of immigrants to American science. I'm ashamed that he's subject to the bigoted filth against Indians that has exploded. It is reprehensible and profoundly un-American.

[00:02:07]You see, Shukla accepted the support, but he delivered a blunt warning.

[00:02:11]He stated that even after 16 years in US, he cannot stay silent just because the country is witnessing an open attack on Indians with blessings, in fact, from the administration. Now, this very perception of political validation has forced senior lawmakers in Washington to even push back. You see, critics point directly to recent actions from the Donald Trump administration as the primary catalyst for this hostility.

[00:02:36]You see, President Donald Trump do severe backlash recently after sharing a social media post that grouped India with hellhole countries. Simultaneously, a wave of internal MAGA infighting where it saw prominent commentators use explicit racial tropes to target Indian-American officials like Cash Patel and even Vivek Ramaswamy.

[00:02:56]Meanwhile, all hope is not lost, viewers. Some US lawmakers are fighting back. And one of them is lawmaker Pramila Jayapal, who in fact openly is challenging this xenophobic rhetoric by anchoring the very immigration debate.

[00:03:12]>> Racial profiling has been used as a tool with the Supreme Court's blessing. And the re-enactment of racist and anti-Muslim policies like the Muslim travel ban have also contributed to restricting asylum and TPS for those who need it.

[00:03:30]Immigration processing, I serve as the top Democrat on the immigration subcommittee. I hope to be chair come November.

[00:03:37]But on immigration, what we've seen is a complete slowing of all processing, of all legal applications. In fact, there was recently a study put out by the Cato Institute that said that the Trump administration has cracked down on legal immigration twice as much as on undocumented immigration. So, let's be clear that this is an attempt to rid us of all immigrants, regardless of immigration status.

[00:04:03]Immigration is in many ways, in my view, a testing ground. If you can get away with this for immigrants, then you can extend it to all people, as we see with the efforts around denaturalization.

[00:04:15]>> And you heard lawmaker Jayapal there.

[00:04:17]Meanwhile, data by Stop AAPI Hate, it shows a 115% surge in targeted anti-South Asian slurs online, while public openly while public school and city council meetings in high-tech Texas suburbs have devolved into shouting matches over visa workers. You see, while diplomats dismiss the hostility as simple internet noise, the trend poses a direct threat to the global talent pipeline that sustains American innovation, and it continues to do that up till now.

[00:04:50]And well, the bottom line is clear, viewers. You see, the United States, it's actively damaging its own economic future by allowing high-skilled Indian professionals, well, to be targeted with systematic public hostility, you see.

[00:05:03]When political leadership echoes xenophobic rhetoric like the ones we've heard, it fractures the exact technological talent pipeline that, well, that keeps American industries ahead of global competitors, you see. Now, this is a structural crisis.

[00:05:17]And you know what? Washington needs to intervene yesterday, not today.

[00:05:22]But the line in the sand has been drawn by economist Steven Durlauf in defense of Harvard scholar Soumitra Shukla.

[00:05:29]Well, it proves that elite American institutions, they still value this alliance. And the specific bond represents thousands of quiet, resilient collaborations across US laboratories and beyond that refuse to give in this political bigotry. Now, this deep intellectual partnership, or many partnerships, they're the true foundation of American innovation. And well, they must be fiercely protected before the toxic digital noise, well, it burns the bridge permanently.