<b>Sunanda K Datta-Ray:</b> Where one belongs

Had Kuchibhotla stayed in India, he would have earned less but his life might have been spared

Was Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s murder India’s loss or America’s? The question is implicit in his widow’s challenging question, “Do we belong?” The answer remains elusive because of the hypocrisy that cloaks attitudes on both sides on a matter that touches closely on sensitive areas like loyalty, identity, national pride and, yes, also human greed.

Undoubtedly, many in Donald Trump’s administration must resent the phenomenon that the 32-year-old aviation engineer represented. The president’s chief strategist, Stephen K Bannon, for instance, once reportedly deplored that “two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia”. As it happens,