"We are not proxies for India in the US", wrote Suhag Shukla, co-founder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) in a recent article for The Print, an Indian media outlet. This was written in response to Indian diplomat-politician Shashi Tharoor's criticism that the Indian-American diaspora was largely silent on the Trump administration policies hurting India. After a meeting with a US congressional delegation in September 2025, Tharoor had questioned why the Indian diaspora appeared apathetic to US policies affecting India, including H-1B visa fees and tariffs.
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| Suhag Shukla (L) and Shashi Tharoor |
The HAF is seen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's critics and human rights advocates as an American proxy for the Hindutva movement and its Hindu Supremacist ideology. HAF spun off in 2003 from the American branch of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an organization with ties to anti-Muslim violence in India. HAF co-founder Mihir Meghani published a manifesto praising the demolition of the Babri Mosque by a Hindu mob in 1992.
HAF's Shukla's article has been published amid a growing backlash against the Indian diaspora in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. All of these countries and regions have seen very public expressions of disgust at the behavior of Indians in these countries. This is in part attributed to the politics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proclaimed his country as "Vishwaguru", meaning the world's guru. It is often seen as an expression of Hindu Supremacy and denigration of all others.
The arrogance of the Indian diaspora was highlighted last year when Vivek Ramaswamy, then a candidate for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, said Americans don't have a good enough work ethic as American culture "venerated mediocrity over excellence." He offered it as a key justification to bring in more Indians to work in the United States. The backlash in the United States was immediate and strong. The essence of the response to the Hindu supremacist criticism of the US culture went like this: People from India, a "shit-hole" country, are jealous of America. Earlier, Professor Amy Wax of University of Pennsylvania, told Tucker Carlsen that “the role of envy and shame in the way the third world [sic] regards the first world […] creates ingratitude of the most monstrous kind.” She also said that ‘Brahmin women’ of India are taught that they are better than everybody.
American social media, particularly Trump's MAGA base, have turned against India and Indians, making them the most hated diaspora in the United States. They are getting a taste of the kind of hate that the BJP, India's ruling party, has been promoting against Muslims. Anti-Indian slurs like "pajeet", "dirty Indian" and "coolie" have become common.
Ashley Tellis, a strongly pro-India analyst in the United States, recently published an essay for Foreign Affairs magazine titled "India's Great Power Delusions" in which he wrote that "the country (India) is shedding one of its main sources of strength—its liberal democracy—by embracing Hindu nationalism. This evolution could undermine India’s rise by intensifying communal tensions and exacerbating problems with its neighbors, forcing it to redirect security resources inward to the detriment of outward power projection. The country’s illiberal pivot further undermines the rules-based international order that has served it so well".
In recent years, India has emerged as a major hub for global scams. The US government has alleged in court documents that a large enterprise originating from India was involved in stealing nearly $1.5 billion from elderly Americans. Recently, two Indian nationals, Pranay Mamindi and Kishan Patel, were found guilty of participating in a money laundering conspiracy, concealing the source of the money, and using the illegally gained money to further promote a criminal enterprise. Six other defendants from India also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
These global scams appear to have started amid widespread unemployment in India. Many of the scammers previously worked in call centers where they learned to use computers and telecommunications networks to reach out and talk to Americans. In 2022, U.S. citizens fell victim to a massive loss of over $10 billion from phishing calls orchestrated by illegal Indian call centers, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Indian-Americans, too, have been found guilty in a number of high-profile scams. A federal jury convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, an Indian-American entrepreneur, on all 12 counts of fraud in 2022. Balwani was born in 1965 in Pakistan to a Sindhi Hindu family. His one-time girlfriend and partner Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, was convicted on similar charges earlier that year. Both face up to 20 years in prison.
Last year, a federal judge sentenced former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah, an Indian-American, to 7½ years in prison for a massive fraud scheme that prosecutors say enabled a “jet-set lifestyle” featuring private aircraft, yachts and a tony Chicago home.
In 2020, Dr. John Nath Kapoor, Indian-American CEO of Insys Therapeutics, was found guilty of conspiring to recklessly and illegally boost profits from the opioid painkiller Subsys, a fentanyl spray designed to be absorbed under the tongue, according to multiple media reports.
Rajat Gupta, an Indian-American former global head of McKinsey & Company, was convicted of insider trading in 2012. He was charged with passing on confidential business information about Goldman Sachs to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta was found guilty on multiple counts of conspiracy and securities fraud and served a two-year prison sentence.
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| India Ranks Number One For Misinformation and Disinformation |
Beyond the hub of scams and frauds, it seems that India has earned a reputation as the epicenter of misinformation and disinformation. According to experts surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report, India was ranked highest for the risk of misinformation and disinformation. This was on full display during the recent conflict with Pakistan.
After the recent Pahalgam militant attack in Kashmir, the Indian government immediately blamed it on Pakistan without any investigation or evidence. More than a month later, the perpetrators have neither been clearly identified nor apprehended. And yet, the government of Prime Minister Modi proceeded with air strikes inside Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated and shot down several Indian fighter jets, including its most advanced French Rafales. The conflict began to quickly escalate with strikes and counter-strikes, with the world fearing a nuclear exchange. This prompted the United States and several other countries to intervene and force a ceasefire in less than 4 days of armed conflict.
During this short 4-day period, the Indian mainstream media was filled with lies. Here's how the Washington Post reported this: "Times Now Navbharat reported that Indian forces had entered Pakistan; TV9 Bharatvarsh told viewers that Pakistan’s prime minister had surrendered; Bharat Samachar said he was hiding in a bunker. All of them, along with some of the country’s largest channels — including Zee News, ABP News and NDTV — repeatedly proclaimed that major Pakistani cities had been destroyed".
It is unfortunate but true: Fraud and falsehood have become endemic in Indian society. Part of the blame falls squarely on the ruling BJP party which promotes falsehoods. In 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-hand man and home minister Amit Shah told his party's volunteers commonly known as Modi Bhakts: "We can keep making messages go viral, whether they are real or fake, sweet or sour". "Keep making messages go viral. We have already made a WhatsApp group with 32 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh; every morning they are sent a message at 8 am", Shah added, according to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Indian-American COVID19 Researchers Face Fraud Charges
Indian-American Operator Charged With Fraud By US Federal Prosecutors
Lying Indian Media Caught Red Handed
India's Firehose of Falsehoods
Padlocked Grave Story Confirms Yet Again India's Status as the Hub of Fake News
H1-B Visa Abuse By Indian-American Body Shops
India: A Rogue State Ruled By Gangsters?
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
7 comments:
Promoting falsehoods is not an exclusive BJP trait. One of the enduring falsehoods promoted by the Congress Party is the narrative that China attacked India unprovoked in 1962. The truth cannot be more different.
https://ppr06262023.substack.com/p/renewed-tension-india-china-border
Mantos, totally agree with you. The propaganda and misinformation started even before 1947 and from the highest office of INC. BJP is just taking it forward.
G. Ali.
AI Overview
The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) has produced reports on India that mention the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), noting the organization has been described as a Hindu nationalist group operating in the U.S. that aligns with the policies of the Indian government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Key Points from Congressional Research and Related Sources
HAF and Hindu Nationalism: The CRS has included HAF on a list of "Hindu nationalist groups operating in the United States," according to reports from other organizations like Political Research Associates and Jewish Currents. These sources suggest HAF's founders' positions have aligned with Hindu nationalism for decades and that the organization has supported policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in India.
Influence on U.S. Policy: A November 2024 CRS report was cited in a news article as stating that for two decades, HAF has "sought to influence" the presidency, Congress, and state governments, "by some accounts directly on behalf of the New Delhi government".
CRS Reports on India: The CRS regularly publishes reports for Congress on a range of topics related to India, including human rights, religious freedom issues, trade relations, and domestic politics. These reports cover the activities of the current BJP government, including concerns raised by various NGOs and U.S. government bodies (like the USCIRF) regarding human rights abuses, democratic backsliding, and the treatment of religious minorities in India.
Specific Indian Government Policies: CRS reports have analyzed specific Indian government policies like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), noting that its provisions may violate articles of the Indian Constitution related to equality before the law by excluding Muslims from a path to citizenship.
In summary, the Congressional Research Service provides non-partisan, factual analysis for U.S. lawmakers. In its reports concerning India and U.S.-India relations, it mentions HAF in the context of Hindu nationalist organizations that support the current Indian government's agenda.
Salam Sir Riaz
I hope things are well at your end. Sir I have some serious and interesting questions and I hope you will answer them elaborately.
Is it true that if Congress party of India was in ruling government of India then the relations of President Trump and his administration with India would not have deteriorated or escalated to this level as they have under BJP government ?
Also my other question is that is it true that if Biden was still the President of America, then he would not have come this hard on PM Modi,his government and with Indians as President Trump and his administration has?
As far as I know or remember Mr. Biden is from democratic party of America and pls correct me if I am wrong the members of democratic party still take soft stance on India as compared to members of Republican party, is it true?
Mr. Trump is from Republican Party.
Can you pls throw some light on this?
Thanks
The Indian diaspora is under attack. What has gone wrong?
https://theprint.in/opinion/indian-diaspora-under-attack-gone-wrong/2756131/
The Indian diaspora is under attack, particularly in English-speaking countries. The current situation is vastly different from the ’90s when the author lived in Britain and the US. Then, the diaspora was emerging as a “model minority”, who came in legally, worked hard, were by and large law-abiding, were significant contributors to the economy, and who assimilated well into professional and business networks. That has all changed in a few decades. Indians are now seen as job-stealers, as racially and culturally incompatible, as scabs who take an axe to the wages of natives, and even as law-breakers — but not as peaceable law-abiding folks.
What has gone wrong?
The first thing is that numbers matter. When the number of immigrants is in thousands, even in tens of thousands, they remain unnoticed, and are literally under the radar. But when the numbers run into millions, these people form a good chunk of the populationbase. The situation then changes, not just quantitatively, but qualitatively too.
The second thing is that speed matters. It is one thing if millions of people of Indian origin had entered the US in a hundred years. But it becomes an entirely different matter if the numbers increase exponentially in two decades. And this hurried increase has happened in many countries. This automatically draws attention of the unwanted and undesirable kind to people who look different and in fact are different.
Thirdly, success can be a double-edged sword. Successful, tax-paying persons were admired earlier. Now, successful people breed envy and resentment — two of the oldest human emotions. A few decades ago, there were probably only a few Indian-origin CEOs in the US. But today, the number may have crossed 50, with many not even in the proverbially Indian-infested tech sector. Envy and resentment cannot and should not be underestimated.
I recently read the book Europe Against the Jews: 1880–1945 by German scholar Gotz Aly. It is a really fascinating book. It points out that the dislike for Jews was not an exclusively German or Nazi phenomenon. Consider a country like Romania. We know little about it, except for answering quiz questions about its capital Bucharest. After World War I, when European and Middle Eastern maps were redrawn, it turned out that about 4.5 per cent of Romania’s population was made up of Jews. They had a reputation of being peaceful and law-abiding. But as subsequent events proved — tragically for them — these Jews were successful.
A vast number of the doctors in Romania were Jews. Non-Jewish Romanians, especially the doctors among them, envied and resented this situation. So, under pressure, the Romanian parliament passed laws severely restricting Jews from getting admission to medical colleges. Many Romanian Jews went to countries like France and obtained medical degrees. Presto! A new law was passed that Jews with foreign degrees could not work as doctors in Romania. Non-Jewish Romanians could do so. Aly’s book is important because it highlights that for minorities being peaceful and law-abiding was not an antidote for the disease of success. It also points out that excessive representation in specific professions can become an albatross. Do you want to think about computer programmers in a country very far from Romania?
The writer of that article got the symptoms correct but his diagnosis is completely incorrect.
Couple of years back when a report placed India on 119th (I think it was 119) on hunger index, Indian FM said that West is jealous of India's progress.
You see the same mentality with Indian writers and public. Always blaming others like a five year old and never taking responsibility.
As a person who has lived in US for a long time I can see difference between old generation of Indians vs. the young ones. Older generation was humble and honest, the new generation is arrogant, unreasonable and sometimes down right stupid.
The young generation feels entitled. Average American does not care (or even know) that companies in Silicon valley are run by Indians, but they do see that how Indians try to con the system and steal from old ladies.
Annon
Dear Sir
Thanks for this post, it is not just numbers that matters I think and believe, it also should take into account the behaviour of these Indians who migrate to foreign countries specially those who try to migrate to these countries illegally.
As you know recently how many Indians who tried to enter America through the border of Mexico were caught and arrested by border police force of America either at Arizona or New Mexico border and how based on the orders of President Trump they were punished in the form of deportation.
And they were deported in US military plane in handcuffs and were shackled.
They were not allowed to eat anything and were not allowed to use toilets in the US military transport aircrafts while they were on a journey way back to India on deportation.
This news must have also created negative feelings in the minds and hearts of American people and in the hearts and minds of other foreigners living abroad who are not willing and ready to welcome them in their country as no one respects those who try to enter their country illegally.
Also their is a debate going on in international news media and in their public that Indians are invasive people.
Meaning where ever Indians are appointed or hired at top management positions in the companies or organizations pf foreign countries they mostly prefer to hire or appoint their Indian people living in these countries as immigrants. Off course this reduces the level of employment for Americans and for other immigrants living in America and according to some reports out of 100℅ of the H-1B professional visas, at least 75℅ of them are issued to Indians.
Americans are not able to get jobs within their own countries.
And the Indian lobbies in America and in other western countries work hard to bring as many Indians as possible to these western countries irrespective whether they are skilled, qualified and good enough to work in these foreigm countries.
Also fake degrees is another issue, according to some international reports and surveys many Indians who are working in these western countries have fake degrees.
So I think obviously these factors negatively add or contribute to the rise of anti-Indian sentiments in these foreign countries.
Thanks
Thanks
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