Round The World
New Delhi, 8 June, 2016
Racial Attacks
IS INDIA AFROPHOBIC?
By Amrita Banerjee
(School of International Studies,
JNU, New Delhi)
With
attacks on African nationals continuing to hog limelight, the crucial question
of whether the world’s largest democracy is colour and race conscious has
surfaced in mainstream political discourse. True, Foreign Minister Sushma
Swaraj swung into damage control mode by terming the assaults criminal and not
racial and the Association of African Students in India which had earlier
called for a March for Justice postponed the rally in view of the high-level
meetings and assurances given for Africans ‘safety and security’, it is
important to delve into the racial angle question.
Undeniably,
anti-racism is deeply ingrained in India’s foreign policy as one of
its basic tenets having once being subject to racism by Britishers in our own
country, wherein we have opposed racism tooth and nail.
Having
gone through the long independence struggle, India has always stood in
solidarity with the Africans not only in their long and challenging struggle
against apartheid but also in their continued extension of support on this
issue in different international forums like UN, Non-Aligned Movement and
Commonwealth of Nations which ultimately helped Nelson Mandela and his Party
eradicate this discrimination by 1994.
With
India’s zero tolerance
against racism in the past, the allegations of racism slammed against New Delhi is indeed
saddening. Even though Government’s have taken an idealistic stand in some of
the international forums so far, it is important to acknowledge that social,
economic and religious inequality are crude realities which dominates Indian
psyche till date.
Notably,
race as a factor also features in the country vis-à-vis its ‘on-off’ basis
wherein people from the North-East are subjected to derogatory remarks like
‘Chinki’ or Chinese because of their Mongoloid features. In August, 2012, India also
witnessed a mass exodus from Bengaluru of panic-stricken North-Easterners after
a few cases of assault were reported in the city. Besides this, the tragic
death of Nido Tania also remains fresh in our memories.
There
is an increasing feeling of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ even among native Indians. This
feeling seems to echo in the case of more than 10,000 African students who have
made India
their temporary home and allege discrimination.
This
time the debate on racism was triggered by the death of 29-year-old French
language teacher Masonda Ketada Olivier, a Congolese national who lost his life
after a brawl with few drunken men following an argument over hiring an
auto-rickshaw. This incident is but one among other incidents of attacks on
Africans.
In
February, a 21-year-old Tanzanian woman was allegedly stripped and beassten up
by a mob in Bengaluru after a Sudanese man ran over a local. A few months
before that, three African men were thrashed by a mob in New Delhi after they objected to locals taking
their pictures. In Jan. 2015 a Delhi Government Minister raided a
neighbourhood inhabited by African nationals, alleging that they were peddling
drugs and ran a prostitution ring.
Olivier’s
death, though, seems to have been the final straw. Eschewing diplomatic
channels, the heads of African embassies in New Delhi wrote a strongly worded letter to
the Government to take “concrete steps” to ensure Africans safety.
Indeed,
this public rebuke by the African nations couldn’t have come at a worse time
especially when Prime Minister Modi is set to travel to Africa in
the next two months, as part of his plan to broaden engagements with the Continent
thereby keeping alive the momentum post the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit in
October last.
While
trade between India
and African countries has risen in recent years, there’s
much left to be done. In the Summit last
October, New Delhi announced a doubling of India’s
assistance to African nations, with $10 billion in concessional loans over the
next five years. India also offered $600 million in
grant assistance to African countries for focused spending on key areas such as
healthcare, education, and technology. In return, New Delhi sees African citizens as
prospective medical and education tourists, who bolster her economy.
Despite
India having a great vision
for Africa, the repeated assaults on our soil
chip away the goodwill created over the years. Such attacks might not have an
impact on trade between the two countries but they definitely create a negative
perception of India in Africa, which would affect friendships in the long run.
This was manifested by the week-long Africa
day celebrations that met with an unenthusiastic response in the Union Capital
recently.
Undoubtedly,
these dastardly attacks should be criticized strongly and adequate action be
taken against the culprits. More so, because not only do these incidents go
against the right to equality as enshrined in our Constitution but also tarnish
India’s
image in the world.
Consequently,
there is a need to revitalize the shared goodwill. Thus Foreign Minister Swaraj’s
statement that New Delhi would focus on
sensitization programmes to promote peaceful cohabitation is timely as it would
bring about a meaningful change in India.
While
it is natural for Africans to feel insecure in the present conditions, it would
also be appropriate to highlight that many Indians also live in fear of the
African population. Shops belonging to
Indian's were attacked in Congo
in retaliation to Oliver's murder. Besides, numerous cases against many
Nigerians have been registered for drug peddling. Recently an Ola cab driver
was thrashed by African nationals for refusing to carry extra passengers.
This
scenario speaks of a gap in their perception regarding each other. This can be
overcome by creating appropriate channels of communication to allow peace to emerge.
Merely shaming local residents and calling them racist will do nothing to
change the situation on the ground. Any person who takes law in their hands, be
it Indian citizens or foreign nationals, should not be spared.
Effort
must also be taken to distinguish between stray assaults and hate crimes which are
related to discrimination. The strategies used by the Central and State Governments
and the embassies should be varied and involve formal and informal processes
which focus on providing security and encourage mutual respect.
The
Indian State must provide clear guidelines for
African migrants to register complaints. This mixture of legal and social
processes could help create a more supportive environment for migrants and
Indians who live in close proximity to each other.
In
tune with the ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ campaign launched by the Incredible India,
the allegations of racism can be the most hypocritical for our polity because
we have always taken a clear stand on instances of racial violence against
Indians in other countries.
Be
it Africa or any other country, our engagement
should go beyond tokenism. Expounding slogans of shared histories from Bandung are not
sufficient. Clearly, more needs to be done. Safety of foreign nationals in India should be
our shared responsibility be it citizens, politicians or media. Only then the
theme of Africa Day Celebration ‘India-Africa: Bound Together ‘and sharing
interlinked dreams can be truly realized in totality. ----INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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