Capt Amarinder demands high-level central government intervention over US racist attacks

Chandigarh, March 6, 2017: Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has expressed grave concern over the latest incident of racist attack against a Sikh youth in the US, and sought the central government’s proactive and aggressive intervention in ensuring protection of Indians living abroad.

In a statement issued here on Monday, Captain Amarinder said the growing intolerance and the spate of violence targeting the Indian diaspora had serious implications for the country and needed to be checked before it escalated to unmanageable levels. It was not enough for the Indian government to condemn and express concern over these shocking and biased attacks, he said, calling for urgent high-level intermediation to prevent their recurrence.

The PPCC president came down heavily on the Modi government for its failure to take up the issue in all its seriousness, accusing it of licking up to the Trump government to promote its vested political interests. The Narendra Modi led central government should engage with the Donald Trump administration in the US at the highest levels to pre-empt any further incidents of this kind, he added.

The sudden increase in the frequency and intensity of such acts, partiularly in the US, suggested lack of a protective policy framework to secure and safeguard the Indians living abroad, said the Congress chief ministerial candidate. Whatever the provocation or the motivation, these attacks were tantamount to murder and attempted murder and needed to be tackled as crimes, with exemplary and deterrent punishment to the culprits, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief demanded.

There is a distinct climate of hatred being promoted against Indians in the US and some other countries, Captain Amarinder said, citing the string of attacks against people of Indian origin in recent days. He urged the Trump administration to come out openly and sternly against elements engaged in perpetrating hate crimes against member of the Indian community, many of whom were settled in the US for the past several decades and were making significant contribution to that country’s economy and growth.