On a humid summer morning, two young men crossed a border.
Both sought opportunity. Both dreamed of a better life.
One crossed from India into the United States. He was greeted with visas, work permits, diversity programs, and endless talk of the “American Dream.” Politicians, activists, and corporations insisted he was the future of America, that his presence made the country stronger, that questioning his right to be there was “intolerant.”
The other crossed from Bangladesh into India. He was met with barbed wire, detention camps, mass deportations, and politicians declaring he was a threat to jobs, culture, and national security. Indian leaders said their borders must be protected, their workers defended, their resources reserved for their own people.
Same dream. Same reason for crossing.
Two very different standards.
India lectures America about compassion while preaching nationalism at home.
They demand open doors from us, yet slam them shut on their neighbors.
If the Indian Dream for Bangladesh is prison camps and exclusion,
why should the American Dream for India be limitless opportunity?