The brutal police assault on a 57-year-old Indian man in Alabama that left him partially paralysed, has been described as “horrible and tragic” by U.S. lawmakers, who said there are reasons to be concerned over incidents against South Asians in the country.
“This week’s incident in Alabama that left an Indian grandfather visiting his American family partially paralysed is horrible and tragic,” said Congressman Ami Bera, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
“I’m glad officials have acted quickly to respond and that the FBI has opened an investigation,” said Mr. Bera.
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“Moving forward, we must come together as a nation to tackle the very real issues our minority communities face, and to rebuild trust and understanding among law enforcement agencies and the diverse communities that they serve,” he said.
Democratic Congresswoman from New York Grace Meng expressed her concern over the incident in Madison city in which Sureshbhai Patel was partially paralysed by a police officer accused of using excessive force on February 6. “The episode in Madison, Alabama is very disturbing,” she said.
“We will be watching closely to see what happens with this case, and we hope and pray that Sureshbhai Patel recovers from his injury. We have reason to be concerned over this and other recent incidents that may be directed towards the Muslim and South Asian communities,” she said.
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“Treatment that was meted to Sureshbhai was inhuman and tragic,” said Sampat Shivangi, national president of Indian-American Forum for Political Awareness.
“What a tragedy in a land of Lincoln and Martin Luther King! Looks like President Obama spoke too soon on racial intolerance in the world we live in, the other day in Washington, DC at a National Prayer meeting,” he said.
Eminent Indian-American attorney from New York, Ravi Batra, has volunteered to offer his services to the family of Patel so that he gets justice from the city of Madison.