Targeting Africans bad for India’s global image

The incidence of physical assaults in various parts of the country on African nationals is unfortunate and needs to be not just condemned strongly but also acted against. It does nothing to perpetuate the image of India as an inclusive state which embraces people of all castes, religions and nationalities, and believes in the motto that a guest is akin to god. While we take umbrage, and rightly so, at the racial attacks on Indians living abroad — the recent incidents in the US, Australia and New Zealand are a case in point - we cannot at the same time let similar happenings go unpunished back home. For the moment, we are agitated over the attacks on African nationals in Noida, but in the recent past similar incidents took place elsewhere too, including in south India. People have not yet forgotten the shameful case in Delhi where African women had been assaulted in the middle of the night, with allegations that certain senior politicians had instigated a mob into the act. The accused have been arrested in most cases and the due process of law will surely follow. The more important thing is to sensitise the people. There is a deep undercurrent of bias that prevails in the minds of lay people against persons of certain nationalities — and the African community is the prime target. It may be so that in certain cases, the attacks were triggered by reasons other than their being Africans, but that cannot become a justification. If any person, African or otherwise, is seen to have indulged in an unacceptable act, there are proper ways to handle that; beating up the alleged culprit merely shifts the focus from the original crime to racialism. Further, such attacks have the power to dilute India's outreach to the African countries, both in terms of socio-economic and strategic. less than two years ago, India had hosted a hugely successful African summit, which saw the participation of a record number of countries from that region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari, have been reaching out to the African community globally in a bid to enhance India's footprint in those nations. The support of African countries is crucial to India's push for a larger say in global affairs, including at the United Nations' forums.

Besides the threat of losing out on its ‘inclusive' credibility, India also loses in terms of its reputation of being an economical education destination. African students come here in droves to study because they are happy with the quality that Indian educational institutions offer at reasonable costs. While there were around 3,800 students from African nations in 2008, the figure went up to 4,100 in 2014. The case of Nigeria — one of the countries whose students here have more particularly faced harassment — is telling. There were just 179 students in 2007-08, while in 2014 the figure rose to more than 880. Overall, the share of African students in the foreign students composition is close to 20 per cent. In contrast, the number of students from the US and Europe have dropped in that period. The recurring attacks could led to a fall in the numbers of African students preferring India as an education hub. Already, the Association of African Students has sounded a warning bell. We must wake up before it's too late.