IT firms begin issuing advisories to US-based employees

IT companies have started issuing advisory warnings to their employees, after a Texas-based Wipro employee’s house got ransacked over the weekend.

Sudipta, an IT engineer based in Houston, Texas, had gone out for an outing over the weekend. When he returned, he was shocked to see his house completely ransacked and every item broken.

On the back of this development, Sudipta’s project manager and the top management have issued an advisory, similar to the ones the US issues to its travellers who visit sensitive countries. The email states that the advisory is to sensitise (Wipro’s) onsite employees to be watchful of the situation. BusinessLine has a copy of the email from Wipro.

Cognizant, another IT major, is also learnt to have sent an internal email advising employees to be on the guard. An email sent to Cognizant went unanswered. Industry watchers estimate that around one lakh engineers of Indian-origin work in the US.

This comes on the back of a recent attack which killed Srinivas Kunchubhotla, an Indian engineer and injured two others in Kansas. According to local reports, the attack was carried out by an American man who opened fire on them after allegedly yelling “get out of my country”. A few weeks ago, in Denver an Indian man’s home was vandalised with eggs, feces and racist graffiti, according to reports. These attacks have raised the heckles of the Indian government, with two senior officials of the Indian Consulate in Houston who were sent to Kansas to assist the victims’ families. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a couple of Twitter posts expressed shock at the shooting in the US and added that she had spoken to Navtej Sarna, Indian ambassador to the US.

These incidents are increasingly being seen as retaliation against Indian engineers whose jobs are being allegedly taken away from Americans. We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime, according to a statement made by Jay Kansara, Director of Government Relations at Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy organisation for the Hindu American community.

“It is our hope, that President Trump uses the opportunity to speak to Congress and address the rising levels of hate violence in our nation,” he added.

COMMENT NOW