By Robert Clements
Visas, Tariffs and Doing Unto Others..!
This morning, over my cup of hot filter coffee, I stared at the newspaper. Not just one headline, but a dozen. And all of them, like those vendors, had the same pitch: India and Indians targeted abroad.
In America, new tariffs. Visas denied. Deportations ordered. In England, placards, lifted high with the bold words, “Send them back.” In Australia and Ireland, fists raised, curses hurled, sometimes blows too—directed against Indians who, till yesterday, were welcomed as model immigrants.
And as I sat there, my mind went not to embassies or trade deals, but to a single verse I’d read in the Holy Scriptures: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I looked around as if to ask someone in the room, “Who are these others?” Was the verse speaking of foreigners? Or was it speaking of my next-door neighbour, whose child goes to the same school as mine, but who prays differently? Was it speaking of that man across the street who eats differently, dresses differently, and is quietly made to feel like he doesn’t quite belong?
Do we really need a theologian to answer this? No. The answer is as plain as the nose on our faces. The “others” are not far away. They are not sitting in American boardrooms or Irish pubs. They are right here—our own countrymen. The “others” are those who are, in whispers and shouts, told they don’t belong. The Muslims, eyed with suspicion. The Christians, eyed with doubt. The Dalits, eyed with disdain.
And here’s the cruel twist of irony: Just as we make some of our own people feel like outsiders, our sons and daughters are being told the exact same thing abroad. “You don’t belong here.” The circle, ladies and gentlemen, is complete.
Isn’t it strange? When our bright-eyed IT students are deported, we shake our fists at foreign governments. When our traders are strangled by tariffs, we shout ourselves hoarse at the injustice. But when the shop down the road is boycotted simply because the owner has the “wrong” surname, we shrug. When a neighbour is denied housing because of his faith, we sip our tea. Do you see the hypocrisy? We cry foul when our children are sent packing from foreign lands, but we don’t mind when our own fellow citizens are pushed into corners within our borders. We don’t notice that the second-class treatment we grumble about abroad is the very same treatment we hand out at home.
Think of the irony: At international conferences, we beg for fair treatment. We plead for inclusion. Yet, back home, we craft laws and spread speeches that divide. Abroad, our leaders cry, “Give our people equality!” At home, the same leaders whisper, “But don’t give it to them.” And then we wonder why the world doesn’t take us seriously. The lesson here isn’t just moral or spiritual—it’s practical politics. It’s common sense. The Golden Rule is not some dusty verse to be framed and forgotten. It is the basis of survival. Treat others as you’d like to be treated, and suddenly you don’t need armies of diplomats begging for respect. You won’t need to send ministers to Washington or Brussels with begging bowls. Because the respect you give at home will echo abroad.
Let me say it plain: If you want justice for your children overseas, start by giving justice to your neighbour next door. If you want your traders spared unfair tariffs, stop boycotting your own citizens’ shops. If you want your students safe in American dorms, ensure that no child here is unsafe because of his religion or caste.
This isn’t just morality. It is mathematics. What you sow, you reap. What you dish out, comes back—sometimes with interest.
Now, before you accuse me of sermonising, let’s look at the daily headlines again. That IT professional deported overnight from Silicon Valley? His pain is no different from the small entrepreneur here whose license is denied because he belongs to the “wrong” community. That Indian student mocked in an Irish classroom? Her humiliation is the echo of the humiliation we allow when we make classmates here feel they don’t belong.
And that trader in America reeling under tariffs? His plight mirrors the trader at home who is quietly boycotted by his neighbours.
The pain abroad is the echo of the pain the ‘others’ have tolerated here.
So, dear leaders, pause before your next divisive speech. Hold back that whisper of another law that separates instead of unites. Before you unleash the venom of hate, remember this: the sting will come back to bite your own kin abroad.
And to you, my fellow ordinary citizens, I say this: Let’s not wait for politicians to practice the Golden Rule. Let us. Each of us. Let’s make it more than a framed verse on a church wall or a line in a sermon. Let’s stretch it like a canopy over every caste, creed, and community. Because today the evidence is undeniable: the way we treat “others” here is exactly the way the world treats us there. So the next time you see a headline of Indians being deported, don’t just curse the foreigner. Look within. When you hear of tariffs strangling our exports, don’t just grumble about trade wars. Ask if you are also part of a war against your own neighbour.
The Golden Rule is not advice. It is a prophecy.
Disobey it, and you will reap its consequences. Follow it, and you won’t need embassies to plead your case. You will already have built a world where justice for one is justice for all.
So let’s not just shout about being treated fairly abroad. Let’s begin by treating each other fairly at home. Then maybe, just maybe, the next headlines will not scream of rejection and hatred, but of acceptance and respect.
And wouldn’t that be something worth clipping, framing, and showing your grandchildren one day?
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