'Anti-Indian hate has risen more than I've ever seen': Newly Elected Congressman Amish Shah

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Speaking to HT, Amish Shah discussed his family’s journey to America, the rise in anti-Indian sentiment, and the future of US-India ties.

Amish Shah, a physician and former Arizona state legislator, is set to join Congress in January after flipping Arizona’s 1st congressional district, one of the most closely watched races of the US midterm elections. The son of an Indian immigrant mother who came to the US to study in 1969, Shah will be among the six Indian American members of the House of Representatives. Speaking to HT on the sidelines of a press conference in Washington, Shah discussed his family’s journey to America, the rise in anti-Indian sentiment, and the future of US-India ties.

It was the late 1950s, in Zaveri Bazaar in Bombay. A man named Mark Howard, a retired judge from Michigan, was wandering around. This was before cell phones. It was a hot day, he nearly passed out, and he was clearly in trouble. So my mother’s elder brothers went out, took him in, brought him into the air conditioning and gave him a can of Coca-Cola. He said, “Wow, I haven’t had Coca-Cola in some time.” If you remember, at the time you could only get Thums Up in India. And they started talking.

My uncles had expressed some interest in possibly doing business in the United States. Their jewellery business was thriving, but they knew they could expand further. Based on that conversation, and by keeping in touch, he eventually sponsored my mother to come to the United States to study. She was a student at the Milwaukee School of Engineering starting in 1969. It was an act of generosity that my mom really made sure we knew about, because it’s the reason I’m standing in front of you today.

We have clearly seen that anti-Indian hate has risen, probably more in the last six months to a year than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. It’s surprising, because for many years we were praised as people contributing to the community: creating jobs as entrepreneurs, serving in the medical field, working in all sectors of the economy.

Sometimes you even saw it from candidates for public office, like a gentleman from Texas running for…

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