I was once travelling through an African country where, among the people I met, were some extremely well connected and rich Indians. They had been living in this country for several generations and had, over a period of 75 or so years, built reasonably good fortunes. This was mostly the result of a lot of hard work and business acumen-their forefathers had arrived with little or no money. Now they lived in style, but retained the fundamental values of thrift and hard work.
EVEN if we don’t harass or trouble Africans, the ordinary Indian’s attitude towards them is well known. This is a country obsessed with skin colour-forget Africans, even dark skinned Indians are the target of much prejudice. Our popular culture as well as language is full of references to dark colour, equating it with inferiority.
The group was also planning to build a huge temple in the city for the community. By and by it came out that the Indians had not built too many hospitals or schools. I wondered what the locals would think of it.
While chatting, they told me a lot about the people of the country. Their tone was mostly condescending, even contemptuous. They dismissed the locals as lazy and unintelligent. They had code words to describe the Africans which they used among themselves. I could not stomach this kind of racism for too long and said so politely. Upon which they gave me a talk about how I, as a visitor, did not know the harsh reality under which the Indians, as a minority, had to live.
So here’s the question–if the attitude of the Indians towards Africans in that country was because of their minority status, why do Indians treat Africans badly in India? This is of course not a new question, but acquires urgency on recent episodes of violence against Africans in different parts of the country.
So serious is the matter that on Wednesday the 42 African diplomats based in Delhi decided to boycott the government of India’s Africa Day function on Wednesday. The diplomats said that the African communities in the country were in a “state of mourning in memory of the slain African students in the last few years”.
The latest killing was of a Congolese student who was beaten to death in Delhi after an argument over an auto. There have been other incidents too, including the assault and stripping of a female Tanzanian student in Bangalore in February. In Mumbai, Nigerian students and others have reported all manner of harassment and in Delhi, the over-zealous AAP legislator Somnath Bharti had gone into a neighbourhood with supporters to “throw out” African women who he said were indulging in prostitution. His sources were the people of the neighbourhood and that was enough for him to discard any procedures.
Even if we don’t harass or trouble Africans, the ordinary Indian’s attitude towards them is well known. This is a country obsessed with skin colour-forget Africans, even dark skinned Indians are the target of much prejudice. Our popular culture as well as language is full of references to dark colour, equating it with inferiority.
At one time this may have been acceptable, or tolerated, today it most certainly is not. Racism is prevalent all over the world but increasingly, there are tough laws against it. In a globalized world, news of such incidents spreads immediately
and stories about what is happening in India is making headlines in Africa and giving the country a bad name.
Thousands of Africans come to India to study and get medical treatment. African students are to be found in the big cities and also in small towns, such as Pune and Chandigarh. They value Indian education and contribute to the local economy. They go back and ought to become ambassadors for India, speaking about our culture, history and hospitality. Some of them rise to important offices in government and the private sector. There is a strategic objective here.
Moreover, India is now relooking at Africa as a partner in the coming decades. China has made rapid strides in the continent, pouring in investment and trade. It has built massive infrastructure projects with finance on easy terms. In return, it wants the markets and the valuable commodities Africa provides.
India under Nehru and other leaders wanted to have ties of solidarity with colonized African nations. Somehow, over the years, those ties have diminished. Now India wants to revive them. Indian companies are eyeing Africa and want to participate in the local economy.
For all these reasons, our mistreatment of African students in India is a bad idea. But we should not stop being racist because it is good strategy but because it is good human behavior. Racism is ugly and we, as Indians, have experienced it. In South Africa, Indians were treated badly by the white rulers; the same has happened, legally and otherwise, elsewhere. Indians complain of shoddy treatment in Europe and the US and other “white” societies. Surely then we should be more understanding about racism and sympathise with other victims. Instead, we tend to become perpetrators and in a very horrible, violent way.
