New Delhi: An Indian-origin doctor in the US faced racist comments on social media over wearing a bindi. In an Instagram video, Dr Karishma Reddy, a board-certified plastic surgeon, said that she had never experienced this level of anti-Indian rhetoric or hate directed at her in her entire life.
“Earlier this week, I made a reel about a patient encounter regarding my bindi, and it was a light, fun memory that I have. But wow, the comment section went absolutely nuts. I have never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life. And I might be naive to that because I’ve spent a lot of my life in a healthcare setting in the hospital and clinics, and in the healthcare setting, Indian people aren’t really seen as a minority,” she can be heard saying in the video.
Reddy added that in the medical industry, her colleagues have always respected her, and hence she is more puzzled over the hate comments on her social media.
“A lot of these comments were regarding telling me to go back to India. I was born and raised here in America. And a lot of fixation with cows, so, just to clarify that, Hindu people don’t eat beef. And the main reason for that is not because we have a sacred text telling us not to eat cows. It’s because in the old days when a lot of women died in childbirth, babies survived off of cow’s milk, so out of respect for the cow, for giving humans the gift of life. We do not slaughter or kill cows,” she said.
Reddy said she felt sad and urged people to treat others from different cultural backgrounds with respect.
“I hope that this at least opened your mind to Hinduism and cows and cleared that all up because I don’t know what in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not happened where people think we’re worshipping them and doing weird things with their pee,” she concluded.
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‘71% of Indian Americans disapprove of Trump’
Indian-origin individuals in the US face multifaceted forms of racism, ranging from digital harassment to real-world hostility. According to a study, there are more than 5.2 million Indian-origin people currently residing in the US.
“One year into President Donald Trump’s second term, however, Indian Americans are confronting a convergence of cross-pressures that has recast their position in America’s social and political landscape,” states the study. “Commentators have observed a notable rise in online hate speech and discrimination against Indian Americans. And yet, the 2024 presidential election saw a meaningful increase in the diaspora’s support for Donald Trump, weakening—though not overturning—the community’s long-standing embrace of the Democratic Party.”
At least 71 per cent of Indian Americans disapprove of Trump’s overall performance as president, with 55 per cent expressing strong disapproval.
“While a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, disapproval among Indian Americans is markedly higher—among both men and women. At the same time, approval of Trump is consistently lower among Indian Americans than among Americans overall. Together, these patterns suggest that Indian Americans’ assessments of Trump are distinctly more unfavorable than the overall US population,” states the study.