Why do you expect? Hindu American Foundation chief reacts to Shashi Tharoor’s jibe over diaspora’s silence on H-1B, tariff

HAF director Suhag Shukla reacted to Shashi Tharoor’s concern that the Indian-American politicians are silent on H-1B, tariff.

Shashi Tharoor recently questioned the silence of the Indian-American politicians on US-India issues like trade and H-1B and condemned the silence of the Indian-American diaspora. Hindu American Foundation chief Suhag A Shukla strongly reacted to that and said Indian politicians like Tharoor should not have such expectations from the diaspora as there are lobbyists for this particular work. “The Govt of India does not ask our approval for its oil policy or import duties, and so @shashitharoor and the GOI shouldn’t be expecting us to champion their sovereign policy decisions with the US government. They can hire lobbyists for that,” Shukla wrote, defending the silence of the Indian-origin politicians in US Congress. “Maybe walk in our shoes before you criticize us,” Shukla wrote. Shashi Tharoor voiced concern over the silence of the diaspora and said one Congresswoman said that she received not a single phone call from any Indian-American voter asking her to support a change of policy. “I do want to stress that one of the points we raised was why the Indian-American diaspora has been so silent about all of this,” Tharoor said after he met five Democrat members of Congress in New Delhi. “One of the congresswomen said that not one phone call has come to her office from any Indian-American voter asking for her to support a change of policy, and this is something that is surprising,” he said. US Congressman Ami Bera who led the delegation, expressed his strong disapproval of the Donald Trump administration’s decision to hike the H-1B visa fee to $100,000. “…clearly we need these technology workers. I do not think they are displacing the US workforce. I think there are plenty of jobs in the United States, and India does have a well-educated technical group of individuals that benefit our economy, benefit our companies,” Bera said.