WHETHER or not the Kansas shooting of two Indians, Srinivas Kuchibhotla (dead) and his friend, Alok Madasani (battling for life), was a mortal expression of hate crime or had been influenced by Donald Trump’s inaugural paradigm of “America for Americans” must await the revelations of the FBI probe that has been swiftly commissioned after the tragedy at the Austins Bar & Grill at Olathe in Kansas.

But if the rhetorical chant of “America for Americans” was suggestive of a dramatic change in mindset as the 45th president assumed office, there was no mistaking the calculated malevolence of the assassin’s bluster — “Get out of my country”.

Is there a logical connection between Trump’s rhetoric and what has turned out to be the killer’s “last warning” to his victims? In the weekend of profound grief among foreigners, deeply disturbing must be the uppermost thought — “Do we belong here?”

And the fear must be overwhelming, cutting across the category of the visa. The fact of the matter must be that many have been ‘here’ for generations in a country that historically showcases a mosaic of nationalities. Seldom in the history of the United States of America has the question acquired so poignant a connotation.

Yet it is early days to imagine that the libertarian heritage is being gradually jettisoned post the election. It is hard not to wonder whether the colour of the skin is at the root of the renewed manifestation of racism when one reflects that the gunman, Adam Purinton, had wondered whether the victims were from the Middle East — and hence identified with a community — when he pulled the trigger.

The portent is frightfully ominous if colour and religion symbolise the trigger for killing people of other nationalities. On closer reflection, the targeting of blacks — and by the white police — was fairly frequent in Barack Obama’s America; with Trump at the helm, religion tends to determine (additionally) the prejudice of the new regime. Assuming that it is “too early to determine the motive”, as the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer avers, the mayhem does raise the question as to whether the position of the immigrants has been denuded, if not endangered, considerably since the change of guard.

The administration has been straining every nerve to deny a link between Trump’s “America first” position and the outrage in Kansas. It is mildly reassuring to hear the US Chargé d’Affaires in Delhi, MaryKay Carlson, saying “the United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study and live”.

Beyond the finesse, the White House must walk the talk. The libertarian philosophy is in tatters; the Statue of Liberty is aghast; and the waters of the Hudson murkier still.

The Statesman / India

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2017