Why US' political developments must caution India
Many political scientists argue that the incidents that occurred in Washington DC on January 7, 2021, was a blot on the world’s most powerful democracy, the United States of America. Being a democratic country but at the same time, joining hands either overtly or covertly with the world’s most dictatorial states and trying to wield power over other developing and democratic countries, the US had to witness an incident such as this someday or the other. This is an extension of its interference with other sovereign countries in the garb of democracy.
Under the Presidency of Trump, the country has turned against itself in the worst manner possible. America’s relation with democracy weakened the day it elected a racist who has utter disregard and contempt for democracy and the dignity of the common man. The racism perpetrated by the administration during Trump’s Presidency exposed America’s democratic mask long ago. The farcical end to Trump’s administration through this incident reflects his personality and America’s present situation. We can’t blame only Trump for these developments. The rightist forces that are now regulating America are responsible for bringing the country’s democracy to the present state of disrepute. At the same time, we can’t expect things to become normal the moment Trump exits.
In fact, going by the manner in which Donald Trump, a white racist, governed and administered the country in the most dangerous and worst manner, there was no way that the occasion of President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in could have been different. The model of violence that Trump chose before exiting office is similar to Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler’s suicide. Unable to witness his most anticipated dream of a 1000-year Nazi rule being shattered, Hitler had resorted to suicide along with other fascist criminals in Berlin’s underground bunker. Trump has shown similar behavior. With this incident, Trump hasn’t lost anything. But America might find itself in an awkward situation to pride itself as the ‘most powerful democratic country’ in the coming days.
America’s embarrassment is about how a President without the support of his party leaders could whip up the support of racists, terrorists, and goonda elements to overturn election results. It won’t be a surprise if this small failed revolution leads to a big revolution in the future.
The incidents that occurred on January 7 should be seen as acts of treason aimed at overthrowing democratic rule in America. If these actions were planned and implemented by members of the black community and not white supremacists, hundreds of people would have lost their lives. The way America is squeezing its hands over taking stringent action against Trump and his followers reveals the depth of the divisiveness in America. This also proves how the evils of racism, gender discrimination, and corporate structure control America. As long as the American government fails to take action against Trump and his followers, it cannot be accepted that democracy has been reinstalled completely in America. Today, due to his bad administration, Trump has grown to become an international criminal. Many countries have issued international arrest warrants against him. The world is watching with curiosity about how America will punish Trump for conspiring against his own country, forget conspiring against other countries.
Ironically, India should also indirectly own up the stigma of America’s attack on the Congress as it now finds itself in an awkward situation with the presence of an Indian flag during the attack. It is not difficult to trace the background of this. Having established itself as a third powerful force internationally by adopting a non-aligned stand in external affairs, India now finds itself compromising its foreign policy to woo America. The manner in which India woos America reached a pathetic state during the Narendra Modi regime. It went to the extent of interfering in America’s elections with the Indian Prime Minister campaigning in favor of Trump. With this, India identified itself as a worker of a political party in the US. ‘Ab ki Baar, Trump Sarkaar,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on American soil. Modi did not show the wisdom of imagining a situation in the eventuality of Trump’s losing the elections and how it could have an adverse impact on India. Today, if the Indian flag is seen during the attack on the US Congress, it is because of Narendra Modi’s declaration of ‘Ab ki Baar, Trump Sarkaar.’ Even though Narendra Modi expressed his regret over the developments in America, India lost its moral authority to condemn the incident due to Modi’s behavior.
At this moment, we should not forget that India has a government that had looked upon Trump as a model. An Indian Prime Minister who is a puppet in the hands of organizations that are more divisive and casteist than Trump is ruling the country. Instead of believing that the country is more important than an individual, the number of people who believe that an individual is more important than the country is growing. Bhakths who believe that the Prime Minister cannot be criticized even though the country is being ruined would definitely turn out to be more dangerous to India than Trump’s supporters to the US. America’s developments should come as a timely warning to India.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
