The Rihanna episode intersects with shifting South Asian diasporic politics. There is rising mobilization in the U.S. against the politics of Modi & Hindu nationalism and this will have longterm repercussions.
My story + THREAD. https://gothamist.com/news/rihanna-massive-protests-and-how-indias-tensions-have-landed-stateside

The backdrop for what's happening outside of India is what's happening to journalists/activists inside India [ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/02/narendra-modi-assault-indian-idea/617904/ ]
Or as @suchitrav told me: "Everybody's been silenced.”
So minority communities increasingly depend on int'l attention.

Will Biden-Harris pressure India? Maybe.
Support for Modi in the Indian-American community is HIGH. About 60% favorability according to a recent survey [ https://sarasadhwani.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Indian-American-Election-Survey.pdf] But young progressives/leftists who reject Modi are organizing & forcing the issue in strategic ways.

S. Asian progressives are demanding the Biden administration block any appointees w/ ties to Modi, the RSS, the VHP.
They're also calling out anyone who runs for office & accepts campaign donations from those groups, most visibly Sri Preston Kulkarni, who ran for Congress in Tx.

Hindus aligned with Modi, meanwhile, have targeted Muslims who protested the CAA in India and joined the Biden admin.

For establishment Democrats, the whole thing smacks of "guilt by association" and targets people (Hindu or Muslim) regardless of whether the views are pertinent to the actual job. They fear a South Asian American internecine war.

The right-most Hindus despise Kamala Harris, and equate Dems/pluralism with anti-India policies. As one Hindu put it on an email thread, pre-election:
"For Hindu Americans the Choice is Crystal Clear:
Jihadis + Black Muslims + ANTIFA + democRATS + Radical Left
v/s
Trump"

Despite the massive pushback from India, Rihanna's tweet in support of Sikh farmers will go down as a major act of solidarity between Black & brown people. The Indian govt may wish they didn't engage with her in the first place. The farmers now have the world's attention.

Update: The Biden admin just appointed Sri Preston Kulkarni. A move that has already upset South Asian progressive activists. https://twitter.com/SriPKulkarni/status/1358941375606251528?s=20