‘I feel ashamed’: US economist backs Indian scholar Sumitra Shukla against anti-India hate

American economist and social scientist Steven Durlauf has stood up for Indian-origin academic Soumita Shukla against anti-India hatred on social media. Soumitra Shukla, a researcher at Harvard Business School’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence, observed growing hatred of Indians on X, but became a target himself as his posts went viral and social media users asked him to leave the United States. It was then that Durauf said Shukla’s presence in the United States showed why immigrants are vital to American science, and that he was ashamed of the un-American behavior Shukla had to witness.“The anti-India hatred on this platform is truly disgusting. People need to stop worrying about their jobs being ‘stolen’ and instead look deeper into why they have such rotten souls wishing the worst for others,” Shukla wrote in the first post that sparked the controversy. His post was a response to the popular myth that Indians are taking American jobs.“Get out of my country,” Shukla was told multiple times. “I want to rent a hotel room and buy gas and e-liquid from Americans instead of invaders. It’s not hard to understand. Go home,” one wrote. “It’s ironic that you think those who want Indians back in India are the ‘worst’.Maybe you need to do some soul searching, man,” wrote another.Another hateful comment read: “Preaching to American citizens that they fear foreigners are destroying their economic opportunities is a bold move.”With nearly all of the responses to his X post being negative, full of hate, and calling for him to leave the country, Durauf said Shukla is one of America’s rising stars in addressing inequality. “As such, he epitomizes the overwhelming importance of contemporary immigration to American science. I am ashamed that he has had to endure the bigoted slurs directed at Indians in this country, from anonymous cowards on X to public officials. Reprehensible and completely un-American. ” the economist wrote.

Shukla said, this is not the country I first arrived in 2010

Shukla thanked Durauf for his support and said he was finding it difficult to “stay out” as the anti-India attacks became public. “Thank you so much @sndurlauf for your kind words and your support. I find it difficult to “stay out” when Indians are openly attacked with the blessing of those at the top. I agree, this is truly un-American and not the country I first arrived in 2010,” he wrote.It wasn’t immune to trolls either, as people mocked the ‘inequality study’ and called for Shukla and Durauf to be deportedShukla is a green card holder who came to the United States in 2010 and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Yale University.