Someone I know recently went to Vietnam; on a sight-seeing visit to the Da Nang bridge he came across a large group of Indian tourists, waving the Indian flag and yelling (for no apparent reason) 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', with bemused local Vietnamese looking on unapprovingly — an unnecessary display of aggressive nationalism in a foreign country which can teach us a thing or two about what constitutes genuine nationalism.

And herein lies one of the reasons why the huge Indian diaspora, especially in the Anglophone world of WENA (Western Europe and North America), is suddenly facing a lot of hostility, if not downright anti-immigration racism and shouts of GO BACK!

In Ireland, France, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, even the usually gentle New Zealand, Indians (citizens, residents, visitors) are being subjected to abuse, sloganeering, slurs and even violence including murder for no ostensible reason. Trump, of course, has gone even further and is deporting them back here in their hundreds, usually in chains and handcuffs, something the MEA cannot see because of its worsening cataract.

What explains this sudden change in attitude to a community hitherto well-regarded, successful, low-key, unintrusive and law abiding? Why are Indians now acquiring an almost pariah status in their adopted countries?

Writers like Shashi Tharoor and Vir Sanghvi have addressed the issue in their writings, ascribing this hostility to envy of the diaspora's economic success, the perception that they are taking away jobs from natives, their low visibility and reluctance to integrate into local society, their failure to evolve into a political force, their inability to influence policy or to comment on crucial issues concerning India...

All these reasons are valid, but do not explain why this antagonism has suddenly erupted over the last few years, after decades of  peaceful co-existence with, and acceptance by, WENA citizens and governments.

The nearest someone has come to placing his finger on the real reason, I feel, is my batchmate and ex-TMC MP Jawhar Sircar in an

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