A Legacy

Siddarth Nagaraj

May 2021

In 2021, India and the United States are facing a fundamental reckoning with their identities. Both nations have long been defined by democratic traditions that distinguished them among their peers at independence and have enabled stability and progress during tumultuous and tranquil times alike. However, public commitment to liberal democratic values in India and the U.S. is more tenuous than ever, casting a shadow over the future. Young Indian Americans have a unique role to play in ensuring that the inclusive values which have enabled our successes survive in both our native and ancestral homelands.

For second generation Indian-Americans, the influence of India on one’s personal identity is deeply personal, and rooted in complex emotions and unique experiences. Our individual successes, those of our immigrant community, and even our status as Americans exist only because of the presence of inclusive values and democratic institutions in the United States. It is well known that although such democratic principles were written into the United States’ constitutional fabric, they remain far from fully realized, as many Americans are still denied meaningful equality. However, the social progress that the U.S. has achieved over centuries is immense nonetheless, and it is built firmly upon the bedrock of a robust democracy in which citizens (and those not yet recognized as such) have come together time and again to move the country forward peacefully.

Indian Americans can take great pride in that many of the United States’ greatest champions of inclusion and social justice were inspired directly by Indian strategies for achieving freedom and equality. Martin Luther King famously drew upon Gandhian principles of satyagraha and ahimsa during the Civil Rights Movement, and praised India as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change”. Even before then, W.E.B. Du Bois and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar corresponded and exchanged their perspectives on challenges to equal rights in both countries. The two intellectual giants saw African-American and Dalit experiences with discrimination reflected in each other and were moved deeply by similarities in their struggles.

India and the U.S. still have progress to make in order to realize these leaders’ visions of a fully inclusive democracy with social and economic equality for all, but nevertheless both countries are immeasurably better for the exchange of knowledge that enabled civil rights leaders in the U.S. to combat segregation with nonviolent strategies from India. It is not a coincidence that the passage of historic U.S. civil rights legislation in the 1960s occurred alongside immigration reform legislation that removed racially restrictive immigration quotas, clearing the way for more Indians to move to the U.S. Without the legacy of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and the example set for its courageous leaders by the Indian independence movement, the Indian American community as we know it today would not exist.

If Indian Americans and Indian citizens can be proud of how influential India has been in creating peaceful strategies for inclusive societies, they must be committed to ensuring their survival and application to Indian civil society today. Sadly, the reaction of many Indian Americans to the retreat of inclusive values within India’s civic sphere is deeply disheartening. Many members of the Indian diaspora who have thrived in the United States are increasingly silent or supportive of Hindu nationalist politicians who promote divisive rhetoric and pursue discriminatory policies. Furthermore, many Indian Americans remain relatively unperturbed by the Indian government’s increased use of powers to repress critical news reports and commentary, even when it is presented on international social media platforms and streaming websites. Additionally, even though many Indian Americans take pride in their ancestral country’s status as the world’s largest democracy, they do not protest measures taken to muzzle journalists or block the sharing of dissenting views on online platforms. Ironically, by not protesting the Indian government’s increasingly authoritarian bent, they fail to support the very values that underpin democracy in both India and the United States.

Instead, many Indian Americans have chosen to ignore or look favorably upon India’s growing shift away from liberal democratic values. Some question the legitimacy of groups marginalized by the Indian government (especially Muslims) and defend the Indian government’s crackdowns on nonviolent protests against controversial political reforms as simple enforcement of law and order. They forget that law and order exist to establish justice, not to justify the power of the establishment. The same principle applies equally to the United States, where similar arguments are still being used to defend abuse of power by authority.  Others tout the reflexive retort that any external criticism of the Indian government policies is “anti-national”, but this could not be further from the truth. As in the United States, India’s national integrity rests on the power of democratic principles and inclusive values, which remain its greatest legacy to the world.

The failure to express concern about the rise of illiberalism and demagoguery in India is thus both moral and political in nature. Indian Americans have a relatively significant degree of security and privilege among ethnic minorities in the United States, but have not done enough to encourage India to remain committed to the secular and inclusive values that formed the bedrock of their own prosperity and opportunity. As residents of a country whose government has not yet embraced the media repression tactics that the Indian government is using to an increasing degree, Indian Americans are failing to use powerful platforms at their disposal for the good of democracy. We can and must do better.

Second-generation Indian Americans are uniquely posed to play a role in supporting India’s democratic values. We have benefited from inclusive policies and values even more than our parents, and while our connections to India vary significantly on an individual basis, we should be as supportive of inclusion and liberal democratic values in our ancestors’ country as we are in our own. The sustainability of a democracy relies not only on the participation of its own citizens, but on the solidarity of those in other nations who cherish its fundamental values. Now more than ever, young Indian Americans have a critical role to play in supporting India’s democratic values through troubled times.

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Siddarth Nagaraj manages international disability rights advocacy and inclusive development programs at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. He was born and raised in North Carolina and has roots in Bangalore.