‘Indians for Indians’ is how Indian-Americans are fighting Biden ban on vaccine raw materials
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‘Indians for Indians’ is how Indian-Americans are fighting Biden ban on vaccine raw materials

Given the importance of Indian origin communities as political groups in the US, how this Indian-American mission unfolds will be interesting to watch.

Raghav Bikhchandani    
Howdy Modi

File photo | Attendees at the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston, Texas, US | Photo: Scott Dalton | Bloomberg

In light of the latest Covid-19 wave that has rocked India this week, NRIs and Indians abroad have expressed their desire to help. Some have shared details of donation drives on Twitter, while those based in the United States have called on the Joe Biden administration to immediately send its surplus stock of AstraZeneca vaccine to India.

In other words, Instagram and Twitter have become the primary platforms for Indians abroad to stay informed on the Covid-19 situation in India, resulting in an increased sense of helplessness within the community. Visuals of desperate people outside hospitals, mass graves, cremation sites, and endless tweets asking for leads on oxygen cylinders, plasma donors, or Covid beds are only exacerbating this despair. Google Docs and other online toolkits have been created, and people are relying on the all-powerful tool of resharing, retweeting or forwarding the cries for help.

And then, there are others who want the US to lift its export embargo on raw materials needed to mass-produce vaccines. Given the importance of Indian origin communities as political groups in countries like the US, how this Indian-American mission unfolds will be interesting to watch.

Also read: Oxygen crisis is about logistics. Bring in the Army to help in Delhi

Yeh mera India

It goes without saying that social media appeals by Indian-Americans in the face of challenges in the subcontinent is highly commendable. They speak to the importance of hyphenated identities and how they can be wielded for good in serious situations like this global pandemic.

Providence-based physician Ashish K. Jha, for instance, made a simple call for help to the US government with regards to the hoarding of vaccines. “We are sitting on 35-40 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Americans will never use. Can we please give or lend them to India? Like may be now? It’ll help. A lot,” Jha said.

Queens-based journalist S. Mitra Kalita focussed on the dichotomy and mental anguish facing Indian-Americans, given the vast differences between the Covid-19 situations in the US and India. “America: vaccines available for all, extra doses here there everywhere, selfies of joy and reunions … AND India: friends and family begging for beds and oxygen and prayers, hoping they live to dose 1 or 2,” she wrote on Twitter.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s chief economist Gita Gopinath offered a more general statement expressing her thoughts on India’s Covid crisis — “Deeply disturbed by the exploding health crisis in India. So many of my family, friends and colleagues grappling with this second wave.”

Some have even expressed their disappointment with US Vice President Kamala Harris’ silence, whose Indian-origin credentials had been greatly celebrated during her campaign.

How they can help

Beyond building awareness on social media and providing donations from overseas to local NGOs and mutual aid organisations, there are fairly limited options available to the Indians abroad to provide tangible help. Given this limitation, coupled with feelings of helplessness and guilt, lawyer Supriya Bhakt told Quartz about the parallels she sees between the current crisis and the devastating March 2020 outbreak of Covid-19 in Bergamo, Italy.

However, it should have not even been the responsibility of Indians abroad to rescue their country of origin in the first place, because this is a public health crisis involving major state institutions. What it does mean, though, is that the Indian-origin community and other Americans should continue pointing out how the Biden-Harris government has erred in withholding crucial resources from India and other poorer countries facing vaccine shortages.

On 16 April, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala tweeted at US President Joe Biden, requesting him to “lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up.” In response a week later, State Department spokesperson Ned Price stressed the need for fully vaccinating Americans first.

While this response is expected — and India could have benefitted from adopting a similar strategy instead of ramping up vaccine diplomacy earlier this year — it showcases broader issues with US foreign policy.

As a result, any criticism or attempt by American citizens to influence such policies in relation to India for the better, is the need of the hour.

Such criticism is certainly far more helpful than tweets blaming Biden voters for the current exports embargo, or Covid deniers blaming politically outspoken NRIs, like New York City-based professor Gaurav Sabnis, for India’s Covid crisis.

Also read: Why Biden needs to come to India’s aid now to battle the Covid-19 surge

Will they succeed?

The widespread calls for mutual aid and social media appeals indicate how many people have completely given up on their administrations and governments to save them from the Covid crisis. It is Indians for Indians now — no matter where you live, you might have someone here.

And then, some even have conspiracy theories that claim if Donald Trump was still the president, it would be different. After all, we sent him Hydroxychloroquine tablets last year, following his threat of retaliation, and said ‘Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar’ in 2019. But Biden is merely following Trump’s ‘America First’ policy, and is committed to vaccinating everybody by June-end. But Indian-origin lobbying can be formidable. If they can play a role in the nuclear deal, they can also swing it for India on the vaccines.

Views are personal.