Recently, a Nigerian was murdered in Goa, a
western state in India. This sparked off a series of protests from Nigerians and
Africans in India. Subsequent reports have clearly gone ahead to draw more
light on the existing relationship between African foreigners in India and the
Indian community. I got an exclusive report from Aljazeera and I deemed it good
to share it with my readers.
See the report below
Ties
between India and Nigeria have hit a new low in the aftermath of the recent
murder of a Nigerian in the
western Indian state of Goa.
The
killing led to angry demonstrations by other Nigerian nationals in
the state, besides triggering an ugly spat between Indian politicians and
Nigerian envoys in the country.
Several
senior Goa politicians have described Nigerians in unsavoury terms.
Goa's Art
and Culture Minister Dayanand Mandrekar claimed Nigerians were a
"cancer", while parliamentarian Shantaram Naik accused them of
indulging in drug trade.
With
xenophobia sweeping parts of Goa, signs saying "No to Nigerians, No to
Drugs" have sprung up in several neighbourhoods.
Following
the murder and the subsequent arson, the authorities in Goa have embarked on a
drive to detect and deport Nigerians living without valid visas.
The drive
has angered Nigerian embassy officials in New Delhi and evoked angry response.
"There
are only 50,000 Nigerians living in India, but there are over a million Indians
living in Nigeria.Thousands of Indians living there will be thrown out on the
streets if the forcible eviction of Nigerians in Goa does not stop," Jacob
Nwadibia, an administrative attaché of the Nigerian high commission in New
Delhi, said.
The incidents
have turned the spotlight on the African community in India - Nigerians
included - many of whom say they face discrimination and harassment on a daily
basis.
They say
the phenomenon is not confined just to Goa, but extends to even other major
Indian cities.
Wandoh
Timothy, 44, from Chad, came face to face with the hatred on the streets of the
southern city of Bangalore a few months ago.
Living in
India for the past 10 years and married to an Indian, he had got into an
argument with two bike riders while on his way to pick up his three-year-old
daughter Sya from school.
A mob
joined the two riders and assaulted Timothy in full public view. "It
was three in the afternoon, and though I am known in the area, no one came
to my rescue," Timothy says.
His
compatriots say racism towards Africans in India is a daily routine. If not
physical assaults, most of them have had to endure attitudes ranging from
curiosity to irrational phobia to being treated unfairly.
"My
first day in college, I felt like a tourist attraction. It actually took many
students a few days to even come up and talk to me,' Fred Kigozi, 25, from
Uganda says.
Africans
can even inspire reactions such as children running away, women shutting their
doors and people staring hard. "It can be very funny sometimes."
Speaking to
Al Jazeera, N Mahesh, inspector of police at Yelahanka New Town in Bangalore,
said: "The population of Africans in Yelahanka has been growing for the
last seven-eight years. There is no discrimination on the basis of race or
colour when it comes to African students.
"Whether
it is the traffic police or the police, we only take action when they have
genuinely violated laws.
"The
problem is the vast cultural difference. Africans students tend to be more
boisterous, they move around even in the night and like to party. This is
perhaps not agreeable with the Indian crowd.
"We
have had no law and order problem with the African students. Whenever there has
been any misunderstanding with local residents, we first speak to the students
who always comply with our advice. I have not found them to be
uncooperative."
'Unfair
treatment'
As students from African nations like Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria,
Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan flock to India for pursuing higher studies,
stories of being treated unfairly multiply.
Lesm
Sosthene, a member of the Association of Ivory Coast students in India, says
each academic year brings more disenchanted students.
Agents use
airbrushed brochures and deceptive presentations to lure youngsters to various
spurious institutions particularly offering courses in information technology.
They shell
out a lot of money on flight tickets and college fees to find that many of the
colleges are not recognised, do not possess the agreed infrastructure and
sometimes do not even offer the courses promised, he says.
Attempts to
change a course or college or intimating authorities begins an endless chain of
extortion and intimidation. Students are sent back to Africa to change visas, a
process they can't afford.
"The
decisions are never in favour of the students," he points out.
Finding a
place to stay in India is another challenge. Francis Missumbi from Kinshasa
in DR Congo, who came to India last year, says: "Sometimes we're told
a house is not available, only to see it being given to students from other
parts of India."
Aisha
Kamira, 22, says a landlady turned her away despite saying she liked her as she
was not willing to rent out her apartment to an African.
"Pesky
neighbours complain about noise even when just two friends drop in and we're
talking behind closed doors," complains Aisha.
Ola
Adeboye, a New Delhi-based exporter of Indian garments to Nigeria, says
Africans suffer for being stereotyped as trouble-makers and drug traffickers.
This
stereotype is then used to exploit and not take their issues seriously.
"The
police are always mixing matters. It is not easy for an African to even be
heard when one goes to the authorities," Adeboye laments.
Mathew
Philip, executive director of the South India Cell for Human Rights
Education and Monitoring, concurs, saying non-white foreigners do face
discrimination.
"The
rights of every one living in India and not just Indian citizens need to be
protected," he says.
"Even
racially coloured comments are a serious violation and should not be treated
trivially."
Meanwhile, months after being assaulted, Timothy is left to nurse his wounds
and come to terms with the harsh reality in India alone. His assailants have
been set free - released on bail.
There is a
touch of melancholy when he points that India has been less than warm in
welcoming Africans, compared to the manner Africans have embraced Indians
among them in their own continent.
"Africans
are familiar with Indians due to the huge diaspora in most parts of Africa.
It's only now that Africans
are coming here and I feel they are not prepared for us."
