[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Indian techie shot dead, his friend badly injured in Kansas bar hate killing

By Sujit Bhar

How the social fabric in the US has changed with President Donald Trump’s vitriolic tirade against immigrants and even his fight against H1B visas for technically skilled immigrants was evident in the shooting down of an Indian techie in Olathe, Kansas on February 22 night.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, engineers from India, worked at a tech company called Garmin, dealing in GPS technology, and were considered “top-of-the-class types” by their boss. Their only fault was being present at the restaurant at the same time when Adam Purinton, a 51-year-old American army veteran-turned tech worker, was around, drinking and hurling racial abuses. Purinton was shouting: “Get out of my country.”

The result of the inescapable confrontation, in which the two Indians were supported by Ian Grillot, an American, was that Purinton left for his home, returned with a gun and fired on the Indians. Kuchibhotla (32) died, while Madasani and Grillot were injured. Purinton, the coward that he obviously is, fled the scene.

The situation has gotten so out of hand that there is little fear or remorse among these semi-literate cowards in American society today. Purinton fled the scene of his shooting and landed at an Applebee’s restaurant in Clinton, Missouri, about 90 miles away some hours later. There, he confessed to the bartender, who reiterated later that Purinton had told him “he had killed two Middle Eastern men” and was looking for a place to hide.

The bartender had the sense to call the police and Purinton was taken into custody. He has been charged with premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1487937838202{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;background-color: #e0e0e0 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1487937879550{margin-top: 5px !important;margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 5px !important;margin-left: 5px !important;}”]The Indian victims

Srinivas Kuchibhotla: A graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad; masters degree in electrical and electronic engineering, University of Texas, El Paso, 2007. First job: Software engineer at Rockwell Collins, then to Garmin International.

Alok Madasani: Graduated from Vasavi College of Engineering, Hyderabad. Masters from University of Missouri-Kansas City. Aviation program coordinator at Garmin.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The scenario has created reverberations of fear, protest and disgust. Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has tweeted: “We will make all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of Srinivas Kuchibhotla to Hyderabad.”

Condemning the shooting, the US embassy’s Charge d’Affaires Mary Kay Carlson in New Delhi said in a statement: “The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study and live. US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is small consolation to families in grief.”

Yes, it is small consolation. It is also a situation in the US today that is getting more and more recognition around the world: a situation where intolerance is being bred among the illiterate and semi-literate extreme right wing masses, who cannot even tell the difference between citizens of a “Middle Eastern” country and highly educated and skilled Asian people who have added hugely to American wealth.

These are possibly direct fallouts of Trump’s weird and whimsical decisions, starting from the H1B Act that has raised the minimum salary package to US $ 130,000 and done away with Masters Degree exemption, to the travel ban (which was halted by federal courts but is expected to come back as a different avatar). It also reflects Trump’s hatred for stricter gun laws and its outcomes.

The bile today starts at the President’s Oval Office, trickling down to the common man, who doesn’t know any better. This regressive attitude of the administration can result in a huge section of the super high-tech industry of the country shifting focus to more favourable climates. Already Canada has shown interest in setting up its own version of Silicon Valley and Mexico has indicated that Indian techies were welcome there.

Indian tech companies have to readjust. If they can adjust with a haircut that will bring down their foreign income from over 60 percent from the US to a lot less (possibly upping their domestic commitments, as Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has suggested), the overall dependence on US will decrease.

If the US is bent on its isolation from the global village, the globe will have to readjust and this will not benefit the Trump administration. World commerce will not exist in a vacuum.

Apart from IT, there are hundreds of thousands of highly educated Indians in other H1B field: Pharmaceuticals, teaching, robotics, etc. These, too, will be affected.

Howsoever much the lure of lucre, it cannot override personal safety, safety of family and a level of self worth and respect that is developed through education and proper upbringing. The final say, unfortunately, does not lie with the US.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]