New Delhi, 07: It might look like there is something familiar going on here. But External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told a worried Indian tech industry last week that there was no pattern in the arrest of Senthil Kumar, CEO of the Dutch subsidiary of Indian software company I-Flex, the detention of A.K. Jain, CEO of Polaris Software in Indonesia, and the rounding up of all those Telugu techies in Kuala Lumpur. Isn’t there?
Legally, there might not be. I-Flex was charged with visa-reference fiddles. Polaris was embroiled in a dispute with a customer. The Telugu boys were simply part of a larger sweep against Indian illegals.

Look closely, though, and there is indeed a pattern. From all indications— and despite South Block’s indignation—it appears that I-Flex was in fact involved with bending some laws in getting Indian engineers to Holland. This is the point. As Indian companies spread their technological wings, they will be held up to the same standards that are observed by local counterparts. Let’s face it, Indians taking up local jobs are bound to be noticed—and resented in these testing economic times.
Remember that German election slogan? Kinder stat Inder (children instead of Indians)? It is incumbent on Indian companies then to behave in tune with their global ambitions. The little fiddles, the bending of laws, that may work in India will not pass muster in more orderly societies. The pity is that I-Flex is not a fly-by-night software provider. It’s a company reputed for its branded banking software, a rarity in a country that is still largely known as a tech contractor, not for making original products.

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You may argue that Jain should not have been detained for a dispute, that the outrage against techies in Malaysia had little to do with any wrongdoing. But they are all victims of the larger Indian malaise of finding and exploiting loopholes. As a people used to condoning all manner of illegalities, we understandably find it incomprehensible that a similar behaviour abroad gradually creates an image that we ourselves never see or comprehend—that of the Ugly Indian.



It’s best that the government, and India’s tech powerhouses, introspect on how best they can set right this image. It could happen by being less clannish. It could happen by setting aside self-righteousness and seeing such incidents as affronts to national identity. It could happen by employing local hands. Take Australia where both giants Infosys and the Tatas run software operations. Initially, both operations were staffed entirely in Indians. But, astutely, both companies are now hiring some Australians, never mind that it’s much cheaper to ship Indian engineers over. At the end of the day, no one wants to see outsiders walk in and take away jobs. And certainly not by bending local laws.


Bureau Report