Ruhel Islam’s Gandhi Mahal Indian restaurant burned down during protests in late May — not far from the Third Precinct police headquarters in Minneapolis. (Krithika Varagur)

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Restaurateur Ruhel Islam is one of several South Asian Americans demonstrating a new kind of allyship with Black Lives Matter — one that is more vocal, forceful, and humble.

“Let My Building Burn”

Indian migrant workers and labourers along with their families stuck in the national capital, with and without protective masks crowd to board buses to return to their native villages (March 29, 2020) (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

GettyImages-1208499552 Coronavirus Lockdown

The abrupt shutdown left India's 120 million migrant laborers in the lurch — states, civilians, and companies had to scramble to their defense.

Krithika Varagur

Krithika Varagur is an American journalist who writes about religion and politics in Southeast and South Asia and is the author of The Call: Inside the Global Saudi Religious Project, out April 21 from Columbia Global Reports.