During recent Presidential elections in the USA and the last general elections in India, there were a lot of political discussions and debates on social media. Especially due to the heavy use of social media in both elections, these debates didn't have regional and geographical restrictions, one could discuss with anyone available on social media. I guess this is the new trend that started from this election and will continue in the future. I also participated in a few of them. I noticed one critical thing during all those interactions with my Indian American friends (who are either residents or citizens of the USA), many Indians living in the US have very contradictory political views and they don't even realize this dichotomy in their political thinking. In India, there is growing support for the right-wing national party BJP. I am calling the BJP a right-wing due to their social policies, as far as economic policies are concerned, all parties in India are socialist, and surprisingly, this is not one of the major concerns of Indian voters. Based on the history of India and the rest of the world Indian voters should know that for such a large population socialism never works, you need some hybrid system with as little as possible governmental interference in the market.
Many Indian immigrants in the USA support BJP wholeheartedly back in India, they passionately debate to support the current Prime minister Mr. Modi, and his political party BJP. But, in the USA when Mr. Trump used similar rhetoric during his election campaign, most Indian Americans didn't like that. Many with whom I talked were worried about his stance against immigrants (even though he didn't target Indians specifically) and Republican's pro-Christian views. As a minority, most of them are Democrat supporters, and many of these people are concerned about their religious freedom under Republican rule. They want as much freedom and support government can provide for their activities. They want to celebrate their festival in the Indian way, some even boast that now they can immerse Ganesh idols in American lakes and rivers, just like they do in India. They felt this all might be threatened if some conservative party and some unconventional leader like Trump came into power. They loved the same combination in India but are very apprehensive about similar prospects in the US.
This contrast surprised me a bit. I asked many of them what is the difference between the campaign style of Trump and Modi? They both used the same rhetoric, they both targeted a certain group of minorities and tried to make use of feelings of resentment among certain sections of society against each other. So, why Modi was fine, and Trump not? Is it because in India they all represent a majority group, and that is why they want someone who asserts majoritarianism, and as they are a minority group in the US they want the party who is perceived as a pro-minority? When I pointed out this contrast (or hypocrisy), only some of them agreed that indeed there is a contrast and very few of them offered any explanation for it. One of the explanations offered was that this is a survival tactic to survive in a nation where they are not in the majority. I really appreciate this honest confession, it is not easy to accept such a contradiction in your own behavior. I requested some of them to think about the behavior of minorities in India as far as political affiliations are concerned and compare that with their own behavior here and maybe they can find some similarities.
One can choose whatever political party or leader they want to support. But, when there is a sharp contrast between people's political choices based on their demographic status, it is a very interesting phenomenon for an observer like me. I hope Indian Americans realize this dichotomy present in their political views and give some thought to finding some reasons why it exists. This might help to bring some political harmony between minority and majority groups back in India as well as reduce their own anxiety and fears due to their minority status in the US.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
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