The Wife of an Indian Man Murdered in Kansas Wrote a Powerful Letter
By:
"Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?"
Facebook/Sunayana Dumala - facebook.com
The wife of an Indian immigrant who was fatally shot at a Kansas bar last week is sharing details about her late husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and reflecting on the immigrant experience in the United States.
The shooting — which state and federal law enforcement are investigating as a hate crime — left Kuchibhotla dead and two others injured. Police identified 51-year-old Adam Purinton, a white man, as the shooter. He reportedly shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire.
In a Facebook post, Kuchibotla's wife, Sunayana Dumala, mourned the loss of her husband and thanked friends, relatives, and strangers for the outpouring of support she's received. She also talked about how U.S. immigration policy has impacted her family's life.
"He was always worried about immigration and its laws," she wrote. "He followed them very closely over the internet. There were days when he used to talk about how it’s been quite a few years since we applied for our permanent residency card, and he didn’t know how much longer we have to wait for it. He used to say having one would give him the chance to explore even more his passion for the aviation industry."
Though Dumala told CNN she hadn't been personally targeted by anti-immigrant sentiment in her small Kansas town, the shooting has instilled fear in the immigrant community.
"On what basis [do] we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it’s not based on the color of your skin," Dumala wrote. "So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them afterward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people."
"So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?" she asked.
