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'We're not proxies of govt of India': Indian-American leader's rebuttal to Shashi Tharoor's claim of diaspora apathy
Hindu American Foundation's Suhag A Shukla criticised Shashi Tharoor for misrepresenting the Indian-American diaspora's engagement on India-US issues.
In a pointed response to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s recent comments questioning the Indian-American diaspora’s "silence" on issues affecting India-US ties, including tariffs and H-1B visa fees, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has said the Kerala lawmaker's claims misrepresent the diaspora and undermine their hard-won credibility in the United States.
Suhag A Shukla, in an article for The Print, pushed back strongly against what she called Tharoor’s “sweeping claims” based on limited engagement with the community.
“There are 535 members in the US Congress—100 senators and 435 representatives. But the honourable Shashi Tharoor had made sweeping claims about the Indian American diaspora based on the words of just one in that cohort,” Suhag A Shukla wrote, referring to Tharoor's recent comments where he had cited a congresswomen sharing how she had not received a single phone call from the diaspora members over US President Donald Trump's moves.
Shukla, a co-founder of HAF, argued that the diaspora has long played a quiet yet critical role in strengthening India-US ties, often behind the scenes and within the constraints of American law.
“We do so without a full picture, without any formal role in shaping India’s policies, and always within the strictures of US law. It is disingenuous, dangerous even, to suggest we do otherwise,” Shukla wrote.
She also defended the diaspora’s dual identity, stating that civic engagement in the US is not in conflict with cultural or emotional ties to India. “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, adding: “This recognition is not a betrayal of our heritage, but a simple fact of citizenship.”
Tharoor's words 'must be measured'
Shukla also pointed to external pressures facing the diaspora, including legislative efforts like California's controversial SB509 and proposed U bills targeting “transnational repression.” She warned that such moves could result in “mass surveillance and profiling” of Indian and Hindu Americans under broad and ambiguous terms.
“Statements like Mr Tharoor’s don’t merely misrepresent the diaspora; they embolden those who never believed we were true Americans to begin with,” she said.
“We agree India deserves a stronger voice on the global stage. 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,” she wrote.
Mr Tharoor is a seasoned statesman and thinker, Shukla said, adding that this is why his words carry weight, and consequently why “they must be measured”.
Calling for more nuance in how Indian politicians view the diaspora, Shukla said, “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.”
Tharoor responds
Shashi Tharoor welcomed the debate, saying he was “happy” if his remarks had sparked introspection among Indian Americans. “I welcome the pushback from Suhag A. Shukla. If my questions about the silence of the diaspora have got Indian-Americans thinking, I am happy,” he wrote on X.
Tharoor reiterated that his comparison with other ethnic groups like Jewish-Americans and Cuban-Americans was meant to highlight how communities can use democratic means to amplify their voices in the US political system.
“Their challenges are indeed different from those of Jewish-Americans and Cuban-Americans, the examples I cited in my piece. But that doesn’t mean that within the rules of US democracy, they can’t make their voices heard — as these other groups so effectively do!” he added.
