India's Uncomfortable Truth: Why The World Is Starting to Hate Us

India's Uncomfortable Truth: Why The World Is Starting to Hate Us

(Trigger Warning: This Is Not a Safe Space)

This isn't a defense. This is a prosecution of our own hypocrisy. If you're looking for comfort, leave now. This is for those who can handle the truth.

My Story: Drowning in a Sea of Our Own Hate

Before we go any further, you need to understand why this is personal. My Instagram is @NatureBoyMani. I posted a reel asking a simple question: "Name one thing India gave to the world." It exploded with nearly 65,000 comments. More than half were pure, unadulterated hate, from the racists and some from my own people. Another reel, of me simply doing Bhangra with my flatmates, was met with similar venom. The comments were disgusting. And I need to publicly apologize to my flatmates for the filth they had to witness and thank them for their incredible support. To view this reel simply click @natureboymani

This isn't new to me. Over the 13 years I've been in New Zealand, I have had to systematically cut people out of my life whom I once called friends. People who found it funny to discriminate, who wore their caste and religious prejudice like a badge of honor. The painful truth? The vast majority of them were from Punjab and Gujarat. Conversely, the most open-minded, wonderful Indians I've met are from Uttarakhand, South India, and East India. The public comments I left up on my reels are a permanent, digital monument to our sickness: we hate the mirror more than the monster in it. Our biggest problem isn't just external racism; it's our violent, hysterical refusal to look inward.

Part 1: The Global Surge in Hate - The Facts Don't Lie

Let's start with the cold, hard, bloody facts. Yes, Indians are being targeted. To deny this is foolish. The situation is dire and getting worse daily. This isn't just random crime; it's a clear pattern of escalating, often deadly, hostility. The latest data from 2025 paints a terrifying picture:

  • A Tripling of Violent Attacks: According to data from India's Ministry of External Affairs, violent attacks against Indians abroad (including mysterious deaths) have nearly tripled in just two years, rising from just 29 incidents in 2023 to a horrifying 86 in the first half of 2025 alone.

  • Canada's Crisis: Canada has seen a dramatic surge in anti-South Asian sentiment. Police-reported hate crimes targeting South Asians surged by 227% between 2019 and 2023, a hostile environment that has persisted through 2024 and 2025.

  • Australia's Housing Hostility: A 2024 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission noted a significant rise in racism linked to the country's housing crisis. Public discourse frequently targets new immigrants from India, blaming them for straining resources, which has fueled massive online hostility.

  • The UK's Misinformation Fire: In late 2024, a report from the UK-based Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) highlighted a "worrying increase" in anti-Indian and anti-Hindu rhetoric, often linked to misinformation surrounding domestic Indian politics like the farmer protests.

This isn't just "bad press." These are violent assaults, public incitement of hatred, and threats that cause deep psychological trauma. The blood is real. But now we must ask the question nobody wants to: Why? While racism is a major factor, what are WE doing that pours gasoline on this raging fire?

"We are so busy pointing out the speck in our neighbor's eye that we miss the log in our own."

Part 2: India’s Shadow Abroad

We love to talk about our successes abroad—the CEOs, the doctors, the engineers. But this is only half the story. We refuse to talk about the shadows we carry with us, the ancient poisons we have packed in our cultural baggage and carefully unpacked in our new homes. This is that conversation.

WANTED: Groom for Khatri girl, 28, 5'6", fair, slim, software engineer in USA. Seeking professionally qualified boy from a respectable Khatri family. Caste no bar (but preferred).

ALLIANCE INVITED: For Jat Sikh boy, 30, 6'1", handsome, clean-shaven, NZ Citizen, well-settled business. Looking for a beautiful, educated girl from a similar background. Must be Jat Sikh.

This is the reality of our digital matchmakers in 2025. It's the source code for a virus we are exporting globally. The social pathologies we refuse to address within India do not vanish upon emigration. We cannot demand respect from the world while refusing to address the disrespect within.

Part 3: The Caste Virus Goes Global

Caste is a living system of discrimination that has proven remarkably adaptable. It travels through our music, our social networks, and into the very code of our corporate culture.

The Soundtrack of Supremacy - Jatt Identity in Punjabi Music

The cultural normalization of caste supremacy has no greater vehicle than the global phenomenon of Punjabi music. A dominant theme is the glorification of "Jatt" identity. The lyrics are a relentless barrage of hypermasculine posturing, linking the Jatt identity to land, wealth, and violence. This music packages casteism in a modern, "cool" format, telling millions of young people in the diaspora that caste is something to be asserted rather than dismantled.

The Code of Discrimination - Caste in Silicon Valley & Beyond

The landmark 2020 lawsuit by California against Cisco Systems on behalf of a Dalit engineer proved that caste discrimination had taken root in one of the world's most innovative companies. Following this, over 250 Dalit tech workers from giants like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft came forward with similar experiences. The prejudice is just as real in the UK, where a government report found evidence of caste discrimination in the workplace, services, and education, and in horrifying cases of domestic servitude.

Part 4: The Price of a Bride - Dowry's Deadly Toll

Alongside the poison of caste, another of our great social evils has metastasized in the diaspora: the dowry system. It has evolved into a brutal, transnational system of financial extortion and domestic abuse. The story of Deepshikha Godara, murdered in Melbourne by her husband over incessant dowry demands, is a chilling testament to this reality. Western systems, lacking cultural context, often misinterpret this coercive control as a "family dispute," leaving women fatally exposed while their precarious immigration status becomes a powerful tool of coercion.

Part 5: A Vicious Cycle - Exploitation from Within, Hatred from Without

We must state unequivocally that racism is never justified. But we must also have the courage to examine how our own internal community failures make us a more vulnerable target for external hate.

The Enemy Within: How We Prey on Our Own

A few weeks ago, I walked into a local cafe here in Taupō. It wasn't an Indian restaurant, just a regular Kiwi cafe. And yet, every single employee was Indian. The barista, the person at the till, the baker in the back. This isn't a one-off. Look at the staff at Z gas stations, Dominos, Pizza Hut. In Canada, it's Tim Hortons. Are we to believe that locals in these towns are suddenly incapable of doing these jobs? Of course not.

This is the public face of a sick, predatory system. Indian business owners aren't hiring the best person for the job. They are selling the job. They charge a desperate person in India upwards of $50,000 for a work visa sponsorship. That person then arrives, is trapped in modern slavery, and the local kid is left jobless. This is a shameful, pervasive pattern of preying on the vulnerable, and it cripples our ability to fight back against genuine racism.

"A community that preys on its own weakest members cannot demand solidarity from the outside world."

Part 6: The Coming Storm

If you think this behavior has no consequences, you are living in a dream. The storm is not coming. It is already here. In Australia, we've already seen protests where locals have bluntly stated that Indians are ruining their country. The anger over visa rackets and refusal to integrate is boiling over. Let me be fucking clear: If this does not stop, it is not a matter of if, but when there will be large-scale riots and physical attacks on Indian communities. We are creating the conditions for our own persecution.

"The world does not owe us tolerance for the intolerance we bring with us."

Part 7: A Call to Arms for India's Conscience Keepers

This final message is for us. For the Indians who are reading this and feeling a sense of shame, anger, and urgency. It is not enough to be a "good Indian" in private. The time for silent disapproval is over.

An Apology

Before we demand any apologies, we owe a profound one ourselves. To our South Indian and North-Eastern brothers and sisters: I am sorry. To our Dalit and lower-caste brothers and sisters: I am sorry. To the religious minorities in India: I am sorry. We have failed you.

A Message to the Good Migrants

Your silence is complicity. You must do more than just pay your taxes and keep your head down. You must become an active force for good:

  • Hire Diversely and Ethically: If you own a business, don't just hire from your village or your caste. Make a public, verifiable commitment to hiring locals. Pay everyone the legal wage, on the books. Be the employer you'd want your own child to work for.

  • Speak Up, Make it Awkward: When your uncle makes a casteist joke at a family dinner, don't just stay silent. Ask him, "Can you explain why that's funny?" When a friend complains about "those other Indians," challenge them. The silence of good people is what allows evil to flourish. Make that silence so uncomfortable that they stop.

  • Engage Outwardly with Purpose: Don't just stick to Diwali parties. Join the local Rotary club. Volunteer to coach a local kids' sports team. Go to the town hall meeting. Integrate in a way that shows you are invested in the community's success, not just your own.

  • Mentor Locally, Break the Bubble: Find a young local person in your field and offer to mentor them. Help them with their CV, introduce them to your network. Use your success to lift up those outside our immediate circle. Be a positive force that builds bridges, not walls.

A Message to Our Hosts: Kiwis, Canadians, Aussies... We Need Your Help

This is not just our problem to solve. We need your help to hold the worst actors in our community accountable. Your silence, often born from a well-meaning fear of appearing racist, allows exploitation to thrive. We are asking you to be an ally to the good migrants by helping us expose the bad ones.

  • Name and Shame: If a business in your town is known for only hiring Indian staff for low-skilled jobs, ask why. Talk about it on local community Facebook pages. Write to your local newspaper. These business owners fear public shame more than anything. Don't let them hide. This isn't racism; it's a demand for fair play for your own kids who need those jobs.

  • Vote with Your Wallet: If you know a business is exploiting its workers, stop giving them your money. Support their competitors who hire locally and pay fairly. Your dollar is a powerful vote.

  • Report, Don't Ignore: If you hear stories of visa scams or workers being paid cash under the table, report it to the authorities. You are not "ratting someone out"; you are helping a victim who is likely too scared to speak for themselves.

A Final Plea & A Stark Warning

I still believe in the idea of India. I still have a tiny, flickering hope. That’s the love that fuels this anger. But hope is not a strategy. We must prepare for the consequences of what we have started. The world's patience is running out.

Now, it's your turn. Be brutally honest in the comments. What are your experiences? What have you seen? Let's have the conversation we've been avoiding for decades.

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