Amidst the unimaginable grief and horror of losing her husband in a hate crime in the American city of Kansas, Sunayana Dumala has sent out a brave message and shown the way for other Indians in America, who may feel unsafe; plagued by doubt about their future in the country. While asking the difficult question “do we belong here?” she also pays tribute to her slain husband Srinivas Kuchibhotla and resolves to return to fulfill his American Dream.
He was a 32 year old Indian engineer who was killed at the 'Austins Bar & Grill' in Kansas. He and his friend Alok Madasani were mistaken for Arabs by a white American who shouted “get out of my country… terrorist” and proceeded to shoot them. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed while his friend Alok was injured in the attack.
The two Indians were at the spot with their 24 year old friend Ian Grillot who tried to save them and was injured in the incident. He took two bullets to his hand and his chest and though he is now discharged from hospital, full recovery is still some way away. Ian and his family have been invited to visit India once he is able to travel.
Even as family and friends of the slain Indian mourned his loss at the funeral held at his hometown of Hyderabad, the question of increased hate crimes in the United States is now being asked. Madhusudhan Rao, Srinivas’s father has appealed to the US government to take care of the security of other Indians working there.
Though she is not sure whether in Donald Trump’s America, she with her H4 dependent visa will be permitted to once again live in the country, Sunayana Dumala would like to return and fulfill the dreams of her husband, in the “country he loved”.
She has spoken passionately against racially motivated crimes and appealed for the eradication of the hatred that has claimed her husband’s life. In her Facebook post, she spoke about her husband’s childhood, his aspirations, the couple’s long and loving relationship and their life together after meeting via Orkut in 2006. At a press conference at Garmin headquarters (where her husband worked) she demanded an answer from the American government – what are you doing to stop hate crimes – because of which her husband died. She asked the poignant question that so many other Indians in America are asking themselves now – Do we belong here?
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