Told To 'Go Back To India' For Wearing Bindi, US Doctor Schools Racists

An Indian-American doctor has caught social media's attention after confronting racist users who attacked her for wearing a bindi. In a now-viral Instagram clip, Dr Karishma Reddy explained that she had posted a light-hearted video about a patient interaction that sparked a wave of hate. Despite being born and raised in America, multiple users targeted her with xenophobic remarks telling her to "return to India".

Reddy expressed concern that she had never experienced this level of anti-India rhetoric in her entire life despite the medical community being extremely welcoming.

"Earlier this week, I made a reel about a patient encounter regarding my bindi and it was a light, fun memory that I have. But wow, the comment section went absolutely nuts. I have never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life," said Reddy.

"And I might be naive to that because I've spent a lot of my life in a healthcare setting in the hospital and clinics, and in the healthcare setting, Indian people aren't really seen as a minority."

Reddy said she had always been treated with kindness and respect by her colleagues, which made it all the more puzzling after seeing the level of hatred.

"A lot of these comments were regarding telling me to go back to India. I was born and raised here in America. And a lot of fixation with cows, so, just to clarify that, Hindu people don't eat beef. And the main reason for that is not because we have a sacred text telling us not to eat cows. It's because in the olden days when a lot of women died in childbirth, babies survived off of cow's milk, so out of respect for the cow, for giving humans the gift of life. We do not slaughter or kill cows. It's really not any deeper than that," she explained.

Reddy said it made her sad that people had become 'comfortable' saying hateful things online, adding that it didn't cost anything to be kind.

"I hope that this at least opened your mind to Hinduism and cows and cleared that all up because I don't know what in the Ripley's Believe It or Not happened where people think we're worshipping them and doing weird things with their pee. I don't know. Be kind, please."

Check The Viral Clip Here:

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A post shared by Karishma Reddy, MD, FACS | Board Certified Plastic Surgeon (@kreddyplastics)

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Social Media Reactions

As of the last update, the video had garnered over 1.6 lakh views and hundreds of comments as social media users came in support of Reddy.

"Thanks for the explanation regarding respect for cows. That is beautiful," said one user while another added: "Hurt people hurt other people. Trust me, if those people were in a better place, they would be saying better things. Can only imagine being in that negative space that you don't even have anything kind to say."

A third commented: "De Reddy saved my life when she gave me the opportunity to live without pain every day. Take the hate elsewhere. All I know is love for her and her work."

A fourth said: "The irony is hard to miss. Some of the loudest voices telling an American-born physician to “go back to India” also claim to follow Jesus, the same Jesus who taught love, compassion, humility, and care for the stranger."

Source: NDTV Trending