Asha Patels, the quintessential Amy Coopers of India

There are many Indian Americans who genuinely support the Black Lives Matter movement and are really concerned for the welfare of African Americans and for that matter human rights issues across the board.

There are hundreds of Indian American millennials out to the street. I know of a few who were almost run over by a truck in Minneapolis. There are the Indian Americans who let protesters stay in their homes. And I am so proud of them.

But this is not about them. This is about the Asha  Patels, our own Amy Coopers.

You find them at the malls, you find them the schools, at yoga studios, most often you find them on social media mostly in the midst of vacation pictures of Europe/cute dog/a café sipping latte and avocado toast.

They could be your friendly neighbor flashing that million dollar smile, always helpful, sends you meals when sick, picks up your kids after the soccer game.

At their home, you would find coffee table books by the Obamas (no reading intended though) and would be die-hard fans of Michelle Obama.

On Social media they are outraged, against state sponsored violence, the social injustice against African Americans. They hold meeting to show support for their black brothers, may have a profile picture of Back Lives Matter.

But here is the twist, most of the moral outrage against human rights violation is selective.

These very people fail to speak up or even acknowledge the abuse that Africans, especially African students in India face at the hands of racists in India.

These very Asha Patels who do candle light vigil because they cannot stand this crimes against humanity do not even lift a finger when lower caste people in India are burnt alive and women paraded naked in the streets, just because they belong to a lower caste.

These very people do not speak up against the violence when minorities are lynched on the streets of India on a regular basis or churches and priests are burnt. You would wonder where the outrage was. Actually you will see no mention on their feeds, while today you will see minute by minute updates of protests.

You will be surprised to know that some of these dainty looking women in peaceful yoga pants actually fund raise in the US to support causes that promote violent fundamentalist causes in India.

These very outraged people did not even tweet a single tweet in the middle of the COVID crisis in India, when thousands of poor migrant labors had to walk hungry for hundreds of miles, when children died of exhaustion from walking or when small children tried to wake up mothers who were actually dead.

We did not see these bleeding heart Asha Patels anywhere.

Let us be honest - for them, there is no belief in human rights, there is no empathy for sufferings of the underprivileged, only opportunism.

What outrages me, is the unadulterated hypocrisy of our Asha Patels’ selective outrage - liberal in US, fundamentalist in India.

And that makes me puke.