US versus Them

 HOW THE WORM has turned. A year ago, there was significant support for the Trump-fronted Make America Great Again or MAGA movement in a section of the commentariat in India. Several desi Americans, too, saw Trump as a “great friend of India”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to the White House, only the third world leader after Benjamin Netanyahu and then Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

But if a week is a lifetime, then a year is an aeon in politics. The tide has turned in the waters of the Potomac since then. Today, India’s MAGA well-wishers are clambering over each other to delete social media posts that were even remotely positive about the prospect of a Trump presidency. A MAGA supporter is now a pariah in the collective imagination of so-called centre-right Indians and some similarly disposed Indian Americans. And they are not to blame. What’s even halfway redeemable about MAGA grandees like Laura Loomer, Howard Lutnick, Peter Navarro, and even Donald Trump?

Influencer Laura Loomer is almost a shill for MAGA’s America First hyper-nationalist brand of parochialism. Loomer is on record describing Indians in America as “third-world invaders” who are stealing jobs. White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro trundles out stereotypes about Indian society to make a case for economic sanctions against India, calling it “the laundromat for Russia”. US Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick, another Trump acolyte, wants to “fix” India for its autonomy. And as for President Trump, he is out to rub India’s nose in the dirt. Trump has lost no opportunity to talk up the prospects of building a “beautiful” relationship with Pakistan.

Indians in India have given it back. Posting on social media, heartbroken Indians have exposed the hypocrisy behind the MAGA crowd’s anti-India posturing. But while they have succeeded in making MAGA campaigners look silly, petty, and clueless, they haven’t been able to stop Trump or his teammates. One reason is because they are foreigners. Being Indian and targeting MAGA movers and shakers in their backyard was always going to be seen as a defensive reaction. MAGA agitators have been able to portray the justifiable backlash as support for diluting America’s predominantly white and Christian identity. It would have been much harder to turn the tables had the criticism come from Indian Americans, the diaspora, or from Indians within the MAGA movement. But this hasn’t been the case.

Top Indian American politicians like US Democratic Congressmen Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, and others haven’t exclusively advocated for India. Neither have Indian Americans in the Republican Party. Kash Patel is said to have Trump’s ear. There is no sign that he has whispered sense into it. Neither have the C-Suite class, the Nadellas, Pichais, Narayans, and Krishnas, visibly championed Indian interest. Instead of challenging POTUS on his immigration stance, they heaped praise on the incumbent for doing a fantastic job of putting American job seekers first.

Are these prominent Indian Americans hedging because they want to avoid being labelled as favouring a foreign nation, even if it is the country of their origin? The “patriot test” may only be a notional gauge of loyalty to America, but no one wants to fail it fearing ostracisation. Could it be that Indian Americans have been so naturalised that they do not feel a tug of the mother country? Or are they scared of falling foul of the very real Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)?

Of course, the answer to these questions can only be supplied by the American desi community. Though it must be said, their intervention could significantly shape the conversation on Capitol Hill. Perhaps the Indian-American community can look across to the Jewish-American community, which is highly organised politically. Groups like AIPAC and others wield considerable influence on Congress and foreign policy. The results, of course, are obvious.