Hyderabad: A large number of people including the parents and other family members of Indians living in the United States gathered with candles in their hands outside a major park in Hyderabad on Thursday evening to pay their tributes to the Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who fell victim to hate crime in Kansas in the US last month.
The candlelight vigil was organised by various organisations on the occasion of 33rd birthday of Srinivas on Friday as a mark of protest against rising hate crimes against the Indian community in the US as well as the policies of the President Donald Trump and the silence of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
The event at the Kasu Brahmanand Reddy Park in posh Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad was organised by Telangana NRI Parents Association and All India Peace and Solidarity Organization (AIPSO).
The participants held candles as well as posters decrying attacks on the Indians in various parts of USA in the recent days.
They also carried large portraits of Srinivas Kuchibhotla as well as another Indian engineer Vamsi Reddy from Warangal in Telangana who was killed a few days before the attack on Kuchibhotla
The placards had slogans liked “Wake up India”, “Unite to Save NRIs in US”, “Stop Racism, Stop Hate Crime” and “Oldest Democracy! Latest Trumpistan”.
“This gathering is a reflection of the growing concern and disquiet among Indians over the safety and security of their people in the United States. We wanted to pay tributes to the two young engineers who fell victim to rising violence and also lodge a protest”, said Dr M Rajkumar, President, Telangana NRI Parents Association.
He blamed the hate speeches of Donald Trump against immigrants for increasing racial attacks on Indians.
D Sudhakar, National General Secretary, All India Peace and Solidarity Organization (AIPSO) criticised the continuing silence of Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi on the attacks on Indians, specially the murder of Srinivas.
“We are shocked by the lack of reaction from Prime Minister Modi. There are 3 million Indians in the US. Modi must talk to Trump on the issue of their security”, he said.
He said the incidents have created so much fear and insecurity among the Indians in US that thousands of Indians were now planning to return home.
“If America claims to be the oldest democracy then it should safeguard the rights of the people”, he said and demanded compensation of one million dollars each to the families of the two engineers killed in the US.
Dr Rajkumar said the parents of the Indian students and youth studying and working in US were so worried that they wanted them to return home immediately. “The murder of Srinivas and Vamsi Reddy has left them very much worried about the safety of their children”, he said.
According to Telangana NRI Parents Association 130,000 students from Telangana state go to US every year for higher education, but now they were very reluctant.
Srinivas Kucbhotla was killed and another engineer from Telangana Alok Madasani was injured when a US navy veteran opened fire at them in a bar in Olathe, Kansas on February 22. The assailant Adam Purinton, who shouted “get out of my country” before the shooting, was later arrested and is now facing charges of first-degree murder.
Earlier another engineer from Warangal Vamsi Reddy was killed in California.
