If This Isn’t Racist
- October 2015 Three Africans assaulted by a mob at Rajiv Chowk metro station in New Delhi following allegations that they abused a woman
- February 2016 A Nigerian woman dragged out of her car, thrashed and stripped by a mob following a road accident the previous day involving someone from Africa
- February 2016 Three Nigerians assaulted while returning from a ‘place of worship’ after they protested against racial slur
- May 20, 2016 A French teacher from Congo, Masunda Kitada Oliver, succumbed to his injuries after being assaulted in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi after a squabble over hiring an autorickshaw
- May 23-24, 2016 A dozen Africans assaulted in the Mehrauli area of south Delhi—locals complain about their loud music, their way of dressing and their drinking in public
- May 27, 2016 An African assaulted in the Banjara Hill area of Hyderabad following a dispute over parking his motorcycle
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It would seem the only thing Indians like in black is money. Ask any of the hundreds of citizens of various African countries living in India. If some of them were not so sure, our ministers and at least one chief minister have helped clear it. Indeed, if one of those of the ‘uncool’ colour were a fan of punk rock, they would think they now know the answer to Should I Stay or Should I Go? and that The Clash had got it upside-down when they sang, “If I go, there will be trouble.” The killing of Masunda Kitada Oliver, 24, on May 20, hours before he was to celebrate his birthday, coming in the wake of other incidents of racist violence, leaves little room to doubt that trouble stalks Africans who stay in India. Oliver had got into what MoS (external affairs) Gen (retd) V.K. Singh described as a “minor scuffle” over hiring an auto. Three young people, two of them with a criminal background, chased and assaulted him. He succumbed to his injuries.
What seems to have infuriated the African community in India is the initial reluctance of the government to treat the crime with the seriousness it deserved. The prime minister took his time to condemn it, while Singh accused the media of playing it up. Even foreign minister Sushma Swaraj called it a criminal act, not a racist attack, and her ministry worked overtime to persuade African envoys to not go ahead with their announced boycott of the Africa Day function in New Delhi on May 26. The Association of African Students in India was also convinced to call off a protest march.
True, many of the Africans here are survivors of genocide back in their continent. Others are students living on scholarships or youth chasing the ‘Indian dream’—more opportunities, better standards of living, even better healthcare. But, though the tourism ministry never tires quoting the ancient Sanskrit dictum, Atithi Devo Bhava (the guest is god), to convince foreigners that ‘Incredible India!’ would treat them incredibly well, the lived experience of most Africans in India suggests that god is god only as long as he is white.
In fact, what seems to have moved the government was not the plight of Africans but the need to preempt the diplomatic embarrassment the uproar over the attacks, coming ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee’s scheduled visit to Namibia, Ghana and Ivory Coast, and the damage it could cause to India’s interests in Africa. India imports oil, cotton, gold and precious stones from Africa and exports automobiles and telecom equipment, among other things. India has also invested nearly $80 billion in the continent and has been trying to improve trade and commerce with several of the 54 countries there. Moreover, three million people of Indian origin live in Africa.
All of this, apparently, hasn’t helped close the gap between Africans and Indians in India. ‘Afro-phobia’ is a word one has been hearing all too often in this context, referring to “a perceived fear of the cultures and peoples of Africa, as well as the African diaspora”. Of course, there will always be the few who challenge stereotypes when they date, marry, raise kids and do business with “the other”.
In Rajpur Extension in the Chhattarpur area of south-west Delhi, where seven African nationals were attacked in separate incidents last week, is a saloon run by Frank. Posters of Hollywood actor Will Smith are on the wall. The area has a large presence of African nationals and saloons like Frank’s cater specifically to African hair, including doing special haircuts and hair-weaves. Waiting for a haircut, Kelechi Echefu, a 34-year-old student, talks about being harassed by the police and how he was robbed in less than month after he arrived in India from his native Nigeria. But none of that could stop Kelechi from staying back. In fact, he is getting engaged to a Rajput-origin woman, whose family converted to Christianity a few years ago.
Leuchy was attacked by a mob in south-west Delhi
“The wedding is next year,” he says, after recounting how they met at a church. “The differences between Indians and Africans don’t matter. When you really understand a person, you find reasons to love them. This is not about colour, it’s about the heart.”
The talk then turns a shade darker as he begins speaking of the fear that if he is attacked, his wife too might get hurt. “I feel my wife won’t be safe with me,” he says. “Already, there are people judging her. I feel they think she is a prostitute and is with me for my money.” It is at this moment that he laughs, for he remembers how she deals with all the nonsense. “She is tough and really gives it back to them, that too in Hindi.”
Paul is another African student in love with an Indian woman, Radhika (both names changed on request), who says, “I’ll pick him any day over 10 Indian guys.” Their relationship is at a crossroads as Paul has finished his degree and will return to Africa soon—something they hadn’t planned for. “I wanted to stay on in India, but after these attacks, I just can’t,” says Paul. Recalling a trip to Rajasthan, Radhika says, “I had to trawl through tens of blogs to zero in on hotels that wouldn’t object to black tourists. Then I had to call and tell them in those many words that an unmarried woman and man would be coming to stay, and the man is black. I used to be upset initially when I would try to hold Paul’s hand in public. My grip would be tight but he would be wary. Now I understand he is always conscious of people judging.”
So what do her parents think of her choice of partner? “I haven’t even told them,” she says. “Maybe I would have been able to had he been white.” Her relatives who married foreigners against their parents’ wishes were eventually accepted back in the family fold as they had “married up”, i.e., married whites.
Roshan Rathod, 28, and Silas Ngahane, 29, are best friends. Silas is from Cameroon and they met at a college in south Delhi. At a cafeteria on their campus, they recount how cops never fail to ask for Silas’s identification documents every time they stop any cab they travel in.
An angry Roshan points out how presumptuous strangers act as if they are concerned about her safety when she is seen hanging out with Silas. “The guard manning the Aravalli Biodiversity Park’s gate in Delhi wouldn’t let us in and asked us to try entering from the gate in Gurgaon,” she recalls.
ICCR and African officials at an Africa Day meeting in Delhi
Silas then shows an e-mail circulating among African students that advises them to walk away from racist abuses, not to discuss religion and caste, and to “feign ignorance and politely decline,” if asked.
It is noon now and back in Rajpur Extension, Dave Owuse, 38, from Cameroon stands outside his house. Rainwater has flooded the road. “God will bless Bangaloreans,” he says more than once, alcohol on his breath. “Bangaloreans don’t inflate the rents. They don’t hurt us. If you cut me now, my blood will also be red. But people only look at our skin colour.”
Another African resident emerges from another flat and tells this correspondent, “You are a good person. Can you give me hundred rupees to buy some detergent?”
While the correspondent was talking to Dave, an Indian passerby looks at them, twirling his index finger near his right temple—a popular sign for “he is mad”. Then he says in Hindi, “Don’t talk to him, he is crazy.” When he was asked later if he felt like that about all Africans, he denied it, saying he rents out his house to them.
“The fights in this area are mostly among Africans, not between us and them,” he claims. “We don’t discriminate against them even though they are so different from us. They speak too loudly and it sounds like ‘bhow-bhow’. We don’t like what they wear. Still we let them rent houses, open shops and live their own lives. We hear they are into drug abuse, but I have never seen anyone doing it. When they rent houses, they always have their legal papers in order.”
At a local warehouse where 30-odd Indian men work, many say that they have heard “bad things” about Africans, but no one claims to have seen any of this. “I think some of them work at night,” says one, leading to a retort from another worker: “So what? They could be working at a call centre. It is not good to talk like this about anyone.” That puts an end to the discussion for now.
It is apparent that differences in looks and culture have made suspicion the default response of the locals towards the Africans. “You can’t trust drunks,” says a local. “When they sit around on the street corners drinking, we sleep in office. They look scarily big and their faces are so black.”
This is just the kind of reaction that Roshan and Silas had been talking about—the innocuously curious wish to touch “African hair” is in a continuum with defensive suspicion and outright aggression, which is clearly on the rise. “The curiosity comes from ignorance,” says Roshan.
Responding to attempts by ministers like Singh to pass off Oliver’s death as something other than a racial attack, his brother Michel says, “He shouldn’t have said that, for he has no idea how we live. If Indians have a problem with us because we are different, that is racism.”
Silas says, “When I heard that the protest march by African students was cancelled, I laughed. They got swayed by the Indian government making a few statements. But honestly, Indian citizens need to come out and protest this and put pressure on their own government. They need to challenge their own stereotypes. Even dark-skinned Indians face prejudice.” Agrees Radhika, who says, “When I tell my parents about Paul some day, I know I will have to challenge their mindset. Just accepting Paul won’t do if they can’t accept all those who are like him.”
So, should Paul stay or should Paul go? “How can I ask him to stay in a place like this?” says Radhika. “I would rather move to Africa.”
