India first: Bengalis in US take comfort in Trump win
Times of India | 7 November 2024
12 Kolkata: Bengalis in the US, who were rooting for Kamala Harris in the presidential race, grudgingly accepted Donald Trump's win as he rode a bigger red wave than he did in his first innings in 2016. But they were united with Bengalis supporting Trump in the belief that the US election result could do wonders for India-US relations.
Technology leader and chairman of Trustees of Houston Durgabari Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, who lives in a red state, said though many Bengalis harboured doubts about Trump's truthfulness, character and integrity, there was no doubt he won because of real issues, affecting middle America: illegal immigration, inflation, loss of manufacturing, China and terrorism. "Trump is seen as the champion of these issues. Harris and Democrats did not have a solution to the issues and focused on his character. The public voted on issues," he said. While the moderate-thinking Bengali diaspora connected with Democrat candidate Harris, Chatterjee said many Indians aligned with Trump's pro-Narendra Modi, pro-Hindu stance and his last-minute Diwali tweet.
Jyotirmoy Sikdar, also a technology leader who works in Trump's home state, Florida, said Trump not only won the polls this time, but he also won the popular vote. "People wanted a leader who will project and protect core American values. This is good in some cases (immigration, economy) and bad in others (abortion, foreign affairs, progressive issues)," he said.
Golpark's Piyali Callahan, who now lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, is distraught with the results. She rued that Trump's win would mean a setback to the reproductive rights of women, upholding marriage equality for all and affordable health insurance. But she hoped Trump's win would lead to an intervention that could hopefully end the war in Gaza and Lebanon. "I was angry with the Biden administration's approach towards it," she said.
Subho Goswami, a life science sales professional also based in Maryland, said the Indian Bengali diaspora would now have to identify its aspirations as well as the areas of concern after Trump's victory. "Given that economic needs are mostly met, addressing gun violence is top of most people's minds. Fixing legal immigration to provide access to the US for other south Asians remains a strong desire as most people see strength in increasing numbers of their community members," he said, adding there were anxieties over increased xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments, even for naturalised citizens, like Indian Americans.
Sudip Ghosal, who works at a cybersecurity startup in Texas's Austin—his mother lives in Birati—said there could be several positives for India, most of it related to economic ties and foreign policy, but most importantly, on immigration. "Although there has been an increase in undocumented immigration from India, Trump had promised to make the immigration process frictionless for skilled resources. We need to see how his policies impact the lives of more than 1,00,000 families, including H1, F1 and L1 aspirants with families in the green card queue," he said.