‘Us’ bashes ‘Them’

Attacks on immigrants in West & internal migrants in India extract big socio-economic costs

In one variation of the trolley dilemma, you can stop a runaway tram and save five lives by throwing a heavy man on the track, but almost nobody likes this solution. It’s because humans – despite all the gore in history – are not normally comfortable with violence. Yet, Charanpreet Singh was bashed up in Adelaide on Saturday evening. A few hours later, another Indian was brutally assaulted in Dublin. Both cases have the appearance of hate crime, which is a growing problem around the world.

It might not be the age of peak hate against foreigners because something like America’s Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which practically barred immigration from China for about 60 years, seems unthinkable today. But that could be the result of political correctness. Data from America – self-appointed guardian of democracy and liberal values – shows a 13% jump in hate crimes in the top 10 cities between 2022 and 2023. As Indians, we narrowly focus on attacks targeting Indians, whether in US, Canada, UK, Australia, or elsewhere, but other nationalities are equally targets of hate. In Jan, Nigeria issued an advisory for its citizens travelling to Australia. Let’s not forget that internal migrants in India are often targeted by goonish groups.

It is normal for people to be suspicious of the outsider – different in speech, appearance, garb, customs – and be reserved, but violence is hard to explain. What might trigger it? Toxic ideology was the culprit in Nazi Germany. Now, there are reactionary ideologues everywhere. Even Trump’s Maga push relies on the vilification of immigrants. But as economist Michael Martell points out in a paper, hate is not the way to achieve national greatness. In fact, it has enormous social and economic costs.

Martell cites the 2012 shooting at a gurdwara in Wisconsin that left six dead. Not a high toll at first glance, but its cost to society quickly added up. The gurdwara upgraded its security. Alongside, mosques and Hindu temples took note of the attack and spent on better security systems. Terrorised immigrants curbed their movement, affecting local businesses. And this was just one case of hate crime among many. The cumulative cost of fatal and non-fatal hate crimes in US, in 2019, was estimated at $3.4bn.

The economic loss from all the hate crime around the world would be many times more. The social cost enormous. As a community leader in Dublin pointed out, immigrants are crucial for keeping services running. Even demographically young India needs Chinese manufacturing experts, and US needs Indian scientists and engineers. So, all countries – India included – must make an effort to dial down xenophobia. 

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