American academician: The United States continues to provide a welcoming environment for Indian students

Washington:

The United States continues to provide a welcoming environment for Indian students, a prominent Indian-American academic said on Monday. This year there were reports of the deaths of 11 students of Indian or Indian origin, a development that has raised concerns.

While the pattern of these deaths has not yet been established, the Indian diplomatic mission in India has actively begun engaging with Indian students. This includes regular open days, interaction with student associations, and providing updated guidance to students.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had these incidents happen this year… and they’ve exploded in number. So, parents are right to be concerned. I mean, if I’m a parent and my child is in another situation where I see something “I’m definitely concerned about this, but as far as I know, I haven’t seen any type of underlying problem, and there’s no reason for any hate crimes to happen all of a sudden.” Singh told PTI. An interview.

“I would be more concerned if there were three or four incidents in a row at a particular university, then that would paint a pattern. But at least as far as I know, I have not seen any hate crimes or attacks against Indian students. Any underlying cause,” Mr. Singh said.

Singh said Indian students need to be more careful and vigilant about such incidents.

It’s also important to emphasize the location of the university, and that some neighborhoods or places are more prone to crime because they have higher crime rates than others.

“Like in any country, certain cities you go to, or certain parts of cities are going to have more crime, compared to other cities. So, at least fortunately, in In the United States, most campuses are college towns and very safe,” Mr. Singer said.

According to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report, the number of Indian students in the United States has almost tripled from 1,32,888 in 2014-2015 to 3,53,803 by 2024.

The Indian Embassy is working with several universities to establish a network of Indian-origin professors on campuses with large Indian student populations. This is set up on a voluntary basis to respond to any emergency.

Singh said students may be more anxious because the job market is not as good as it was last year.

“If there is more anxiety, it’s because the job market or the economy is not doing as well as it did in previous years,” he said.

Singer reiterated that America is a very welcoming country with many opportunities, and his message to students was for them to stay focused, be patient and keep working hard. “My message to them is that unfortunately these things have happened, these incidents have happened, but I haven’t heard from them again for at least the last month or so. So hopefully this is behind us. ,” Mr. Singh said.

Utsav Chakraborty, executive director of the nonprofit HinduAction, expressed concern over the deaths of 11 Indian students this year.

“We’ve had 11 cases in the past few months. What I hope we and the FBI and the Department of Justice will do is look at the pattern of deaths, investigate the causes and see if there’s any connection between these deaths,” he explain.

“As a community, we’re really concerned, this is something that hasn’t happened in the past, so these deaths need to be scrutinized in more detail. I think as American Hindus, we’re hopeful that there won’t be any pattern, and that’s not what we’re afraid of is part of a larger campaign against Hindus in the United States,” Mr Chakravarti told PTI.

He pointed to a rise in anti-Hindu hatred across the country and said there were some cases of students being harassed on campus, adding that mental health was very important for young people.

“Those foreigners, students who came to the United States far from home, [they] They have been under a lot of mental pressure. So if they are harassed on campus as an Indian American or an American Hindu, it can result in death or injury and in some cases several murders. So that troubles us and as Hindu Action we want more scrutiny of these deaths,” he said.

The data analysis team from Castegate said in a statement that the rising number of student deaths is disturbing. The statement said: “In just three weeks from January 15 to February 5, seven Indian students mysteriously disappeared in the United States.”

The Embassy of India in the United States and all six consulates interact with the student society through regular open days from time to time.

The Indian Embassy and all consulates have provided guidance on their websites for Indian students on pre-arrival procedures and precautionary measures to be followed during their stay in the United States.

This information was shared widely with the Indian Student Association through the delegation’s outreach activities. Informational videos related to these aspects are also posted on the embassy website.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)