'We are not proxies for India': Hindu American Foundation leader responds to Shashi Tharoor

Suhag Shukla, co-founder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, has responded to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently questioned the lack of activism within the Indian-American community regarding India's strained relations with the US. In an opinion piece for The Print, Shukla asserted that Indian-Americans are neither "proxies" for India nor obligated to take sides when it comes to the US government's policy decisions on India.

Tharoor last week noted the Indian-American diaspora's muted response to several US policies that adversely affect India, such as tariff increases, visa restrictions, and sanctions. He remarked that the community, which has significant political influence and financial success in the US, has largely remained silent on issues affecting India's interests.

"In recent months, as the Donald Trump administration has mounted a series of policy assaults on India, the response from this celebrated diaspora has been, at best, muted. At worst, it has been absent," Tharoor said, questioning why Indian-Americans have not spoken up in opposition to these measures.

However, Shukla countered this suggestion in her response, stressing that Indian-Americans are fully entitled to engage in US politics without being expected to serve India's interests exclusively. "Just as India and Indian citizens have a duty to pursue their national interest, the United States and its citizens, including Indian Americans, have a duty to pursue ours," Shukla wrote, noting that the responsibility to advocate for American policy lies first with American citizens. "This recognition is not a betrayal of our heritage, but a simple fact of citizenship," she added.

Shukla stressed that Indian-Americans, whether born in India or the US, have a nuanced position where they can represent both cultures, contributing to public debates and shaping the American perspective on India from within the American context, not as mouthpieces for any foreign government.

"As American citizens of Indian origin, we are indeed in a unique position to provide nuance to often one-dimensional narratives about India and Indians," Shukla said, calling on Indian-Americans to present facts based on ground realities, without becoming politically motivated spokespersons for India.

Shukla also pointed out that other countries, particularly India's adversaries such as Pakistan and China, have successfully advanced their interests in Washington. According to US Department of Justice disclosures, Pakistan alone spends over $7 million annually on lobbyists, while China invests hundreds of millions of dollars across various sectors to influence US policy.

By contrast, Shukla noted that India's annual spending on lobbying is approximately $2,75,000 per month - a figure far lower than Pakistan's lobbying expenditures of $6,00,000 per month. She claimed that this disparity has resulted in certain interest groups, including anti-India activists, gaining more visibility in shaping US policy on India.

"The diaspora is not a monolith," Shukla said, referring to the influential minority voices in the US who continue to push narratives critical of India. "Fuelled with dark money from foundations like Tides, Open Society, and Ford, this cohort takes advantage of the fact that their partisan narrative about India is also the preferred narrative of legacy media."

Shukla criticised these groups, claiming they misrepresent the reality of India's policies and paint a biased picture of the country for American policymakers. Her response also touched on what she sees as an attempt to portray the Indian-American community as apathetic or disloyal to India. She pointed to California's SB509 bill, which, if signed, could potentially restrict the rights of Indian Americans and others of South Asian origin by targeting "transnational repression" - a term that could unjustly implicate the community based on their nationality.

"The dual loyalty trope, an old and ugly American tendency to cast doubt on minorities, and one idiotically used by far-left Indian-origin South Asianists, is being recycled and aimed our way," Shukla wrote. She added that these stereotypes threaten the civil rights of immigrant communities, unfairly painting Indian Americans as "foreign agents".

Shukla stressed the significant role Indian-Americans already play in US politics, noting their involvement in advocacy organizations, trade associations, academia, and personal advocacy. She cited several major achievements, such as blocking anti-India sanctions and working to promote US-India relations, as examples of the community's active participation in shaping US foreign policy.

"We do so without a full picture, without any formal role in shaping India's policies, and always within the strictures of US law," she said, highlighting that Indian Americans always act within the bounds of American legal and political processes. She also urged Indian leaders to acknowledge the diaspora's sacrifices and contributions, warning that reducing them to mere political pawns in India's global strategy would undermine their integrity and efforts.

"Expecting Indian Americans, increasingly under attack from both ends of the political spectrum, to continue sacrificing and paying for it, however, is not a sound strategy," Shukla concluded. "Indian Americans do not exist to serve as proxies for the Government of India. We exist as Americans—citizens endowed with rights, responsibilities, and loyalties rooted in this soil."