Indian-American racially abused in California: ‘Dirty Hindu… this ain’t India’

An Indian-American man has been racially abused a compatriot in the US state of California who hurled rac slurs that he is a “dirty Hindu” and a “disgusting dog,” days after another hate crime was reported against four women from the community in Texas.
Krishnan Jayaraman was verbally attacked 37-year-old Singh Tejinder in the Taco Bell at Grimmer Boulevard in Fremont, California on August 21, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Tejinder, of Union City, was charged on Monday with a hate crime in violation of civil rights, assault and durbing the peace offensive language, the Fremont Police Department said
Tejinder was led in charging documents as “Asian/Indian,” the report said.
Jayaraman recorded the tirade, which lasted over eight minutes, on his phone, capturing the moment Tejinder told him: “You’re disgusting, dog. You look nasty. Don’t come out in public like this again.” In the foul-mouthed rant, Tejinder called him a “dirty Hindu,” repeatedly used the N-word, insinuated that Jayaraman didn’t eat meat and yelled “beef!” in his face. He appeared to spit at Jayaraman twice in the video.

A video of an Indian-American being verbally abused in an unprovoked hate attack has appeared online.
Krishna Iyer, a resident of Fresno, California, faced the abuse at a Taco Bell on 21 August.
The abuser calls him a “dirty-a## Hindu” and even abuses ex-PM Indira Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/cJvr8N4nvL
— Dhairya Maheshwari (@dhairyam14) August 28, 2022
At one point Tejinder was seen saying: “…this ain’t India! You…India up, and now you’re…America up,” the report said.
Jayaraman said he was frightened the incident and was even more upset to learn later that the perpetrator was also Indian.
“I was scared, to be honest with you. I was infuriated on the one hand, but I was scared that what if this guy becomes too belligerent and then comes after me?” he told NBC Bay Area.
“I’m not here to pick a fight with you,” Jayaraman said. “What do you want? He said you know you Hindus are a shame, disgusting. Then he spat on me,” KTLA.com website reported.
Jayaraman says that’s when he and a restaurant employee called Fremont police. He says the man continued yelling for more than eight minutes.
Fremont police are still investigating the incident.
Jayaraman’s video ended with Fremont police officers arriving, abc7news.com reported.
The police chief later addressed the community on social media.
Police Chief Sean Washington wrote: “We take hate incidents and hate crimes seriously, and understand the significant impact they have on our community. These incidents are despicable. We are here to protect all community members, regardless of their gender, race, nationality, religion, and other differences.”
“We would like to urge the community to be respectful of each other and to immediately report any circumstances such as this that, upon investigation, may rise to the level of a crime. In the event of a hate crime, we will devote all available resources to follow up and investigate. Fremont is one of the nation’s most diverse communities, and we are thankful for the contributions of community members from different cultures and backgrounds,” the statement said.
On Friday, four Indian-American women were racially abused and smacked a Mexican-American woman in the US state of Texas who hurled rac slurs at them that they are “ruining” America and should “go back to India”.
The incident took place on Wednesday night in a parking lot in Dallas, Texas. The woman, identified as Esmeralda Upton, has been arrested.
The incident has shocked the Indian-American community across the country