Indian-origin researcher Sumitra Shukla has been subjected to anti-Indian racist attacks on social media.
American economist and sociologist Stephen Dorloff defended Indian-origin researcher Sumita Shukla against anti-India hate on social media. Soumitra Shukla, a research fellow at Harvard Business School’s Artificial Intelligence Institute, had made an observation about the growing hate targeting Indians on X, but became a target himself when his post went viral and social media users asked him to leave the US.
At the time, Durloff said that Shukla’s mere presence in the United States demonstrated why immigrants were important to American science, and that he was ashamed of the un-American behavior Shukla had to witness.“The amount of anti-Indian hate on this platform is truly disgusting. People need to stop worrying about ‘stealing’ jobs and look deeper into why there are such corrupt souls wishing the worst on others,” Shukla’s first post that started the class read.
His post was a response to X’s prevailing narrative that Indians are stealing jobs in the US.Shukla was told several times: “Get out of my country.”
- One wrote: “I want to rent a hotel room and buy gas and vape juice from the Americans, not the invaders. It’s not hard to understand. Go home.”
- “It’s ridiculous that you consider people who want Indians to return to India ‘the worst’. Probably needs to do some soul searching on your part my friend,” another wrote.
- Another hate comment read: “Lecturing American citizens about their fears that foreign nationals are undermining their economic opportunities is a bold move.”
Since almost all the responses to his post “As such, it embodies the overwhelming contemporary importance of immigrants to American science.
I’m ashamed that he suffers from the anti-Indian bigoted filth that has exploded in this country, from the nameless cowards in X to government officials.
“It is reprehensible and completely un-American,” the economist wrote.
“It’s not the country I first arrived in 2010,” says Shukla.
Shukla thanked Durlov for his support and said he found it difficult to “stay out of it” because the attacks against India were on open platforms. “Thank you so much for the kind words @sndurlauf and your support.
I found it very difficult to stay “out of it” when there was an open attack on the Indians with the blessing from above. “I agree that it is indeed un-American and not the country I first arrived in in 2010.”This was not spared from trolling either, with people mocking “inequality research” and calling for the deportation of both Shukla and Durlov.Shukla, a green card holder, came to the United States in 2010 to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Yale University.
