American economist and social scientist Steven Durlauf stood up for Indian-origin scholar Soumita Shukla against anti-India hatred on social media. Soumitra Shukla, a research fellow at Harvard Business School’s Artificial Intelligence Institute, commented on the rising hatred targeting Indians on X, but he himself became a target as his post went viral and social media users asked him to leave the US. Durlauf then said that Shukla’s presence in the US shows why immigrants are important to American science and that he was embarrassed by the un-American behavior Shukla had to witness.Shukla’s first post, which started the controversy, read, “The amount of anti-India hatred on this platform is truly disturbing. People need to stop worrying about jobs being “stolen” and look deeper as to why they have such rotten souls who wish ill on others.” His post was in response to the popular narrative that Indians steal jobs in America.Shukla was told several times, ‘Get out of my country.’ One wrote, “I want to rent a hotel room and buy gas and vape juice from Americans, not from invaders. It’s not that hard to understand. Go home.” “It is ironic that you consider those who want Indians to return to India as “the worst”.You probably need to do some introspection on your part, friend,” wrote another.Another hate comment said, “Letting American citizens voice their concerns that foreign nationals are undermining their economic opportunities is a bold step.”Since almost all of the reactions to her ex’s post were negative, hateful and asking her to get out of the US, Durloff said Shukla is one of the rising stars of inequality prevention in the US. “In this way, he symbolizes the immense contemporary importance of immigrants to American science. I feel ashamed that they have to suffer through the bigoted filth spread against Indians in this country, from anonymous cowards to public officials. Reprehensible and completely un-American,” the economist wrote.
This is not the country I first reached in 2010, says Shukla
Shukla thanked Durloff for his support and said it was difficult for him to “stay away” because of the open anti-India attacks. “Thank you so much for your kind words @sndurlauf and your support. It has become very difficult for me to stay “out of it” when Indians are openly attacked with the blessings of the top. I agree, it’s really un-American and not the country I first visited in 2010,” he wrote.This also did not escape trolling as people mocked the ‘disparity research’ and called for the deportation of both Shukla and Durlauf.Shukla, a green card holder, came to the US in 2010 to pursue a BS in economics and mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He did his MPhil and PhD in Economics from Yale.