What distinguishes our relationship with Africa is our shared empathy arising out of our common past and suffering from colonial subjugation. In fact, India raised its voice against the pernicious system of apartheid even before we had gained our Independence and remained at the forefront of international campaign for its eradication
Recent violent attacks on African students in various parts of our country, to say the least, have given us a bad name and dented our image of a peace-loving nation — the land of Budha and Gandhi. There is visible resentment and anxiety among African students and various African Ambassadors have raised this matter with our Government. There have also been reports of violent reprisals in Congo against people of Indian origin. This matter has thus already been internationalised and it would not at all be prudent to dismiss it lightly. It is indeed a highly sensitive matter which could impact adversely on our friendship with Africa as well as our long-term strategic interests in that continent.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has already condemned these incidents as “very unfortunate and painful” and has assured the African envoys that harshest possible punishment would be meted out to the perpetrators and the Government would take all possible steps to “prevent recurrence of such incidents”. This somewhat helped mollifying the African envoys who were at one point of time even threatening to boycott Indian Government’s celebration of Africa Day anchored by Indian Council for Cultural Affairs. But we would need to ensure follow up through fast-track trial and nationwide sensitisation campaign.
Only a thorough investigation by law and order authorities would be able to determine whether these incidents have actually been racially motivated. Our multicultural ethos and tradition of tolerance would seem to suggest that may not be the case but at the same time there can be no denying the fact that such incidents do betray our deep-seated social prejudices. Attack on a young man from North-East sometime back was symptomatic of similar ignorance and prejudices.
We are witnessing an alarming increase in violent incidents in our cities and villages. Hardly any day passes by without reports of road rage or gangrape or attacks on Dalits. While we need stringent and deterrent police action against the perpetrators of such attacks, one also needs to seriously introspect on what is wrong with our society. Perhaps it is reflective of the impatience with the gross inequities in our society and growing disbelief in the age old “theory of karma” which made an individual accept that he alone was responsible for his pitiable condition in the present and that he could not blame anybody else.
We make laws to govern our society in a just and equitable manner and to counter anachronistic social practices. But transition at the societal level is a gradual process and huge responsibility devolves on our leadership in the political, media and intellectual arena — to educate and sensitise the people. In the meanwhile it remains the Government’s responsibility to enforce the law strictly and to bring the offenders to book.
Every time a foreign national is attacked or molested or cheated in our country, it is a matter of collective national shame. Such incidents deserve to be unequivocally condemned in the strongest possible terms. I cannot understand how such a matter can be politicised. That is perhaps pitiably reflective of the political debates in our country today having become bereft of genuine political issues.
In any event, targeting of any particular racial group is totally unacceptable. A perception seems to have been created and that itself is quite disturbing. We must make foreigners feel physically secure and welcome in our country. Indeed our cultural ethos of “atithi devo bhav” so beautifully encapsulated in the “Incredible India” campaign should exhort us to fulfil that responsibility as a host country.
These incidents involving African students should be seen in the context of our overall relations with Africa, through the prism of our emotional connect. Our trade and investment ties with Africa have grown rapidly over the last few years and we procure substantial amounts of key minerals as well as oil and gas from Africa. We also have extensive people to people linkages because of the presence of over 3 million people of Indian origin in the continent. But our relationship cannot be measured solely in those terms. What distinguishes our relationship with Africa is our shared empathy arising out of our common past and suffering from colonial subjugation. We always regarded the struggle for freedom and justice in Africa as our own, committing not just moral support and solidarity but sharing whatever modest material resources that we had with our brothers and sisters in Africa. In fact, India raised its voice against the pernicious system of apartheid even before we had gained our independence and remained at the forefront of International campaign for its eradication. I was fortunate to have been personally involved with the struggle as Rapporteur of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. We also opened our institutions of higher learning to African students and Government officials to help develop human resources and governance capacity. The bond of friendship and brotherhood which characterises our ties with Africa lends certain uniqueness to our relationship and we cannot allow anything to deflect us from that historical friendship.
The presence of large number of foreign students in India, particularly from Africa, reinforces the status of our country as a centre for learning as in the ancient period and it should be a matter of pride for us. In today’s age when skilling and human resource development are so critical to a developing country’s growth and development, there can be no better form of support and cooperation. Prime Minister Modi recently dedicated Salma dam built at a huge cost by India in Afghanistan under our bilateral assistance programme. This would no doubt prove critical in the country’s development but I regard the scholarship programme run by our Government for nearly 3,000 Afghan students in India every year as an equally important contribution by us in the reconstruction of that war-torn country. Foreign students in India have the potential to act as our bridges of friendship with their respective countries and we must invest requisite efforts to promote goodwill with them by exposing them to the positive side of our society and familiarising them with finer aspects of rich Indian culture at the outset of their academic programmes.
Having set out the benchmarks for our responsibility with regard to foreigners on our soil, it must also be noted that they too have a responsibility to abide by our rules and regulations. Same behavioural norms and need for conformity with the law of the land is enjoined upon millions of Indian students and expatriates abroad. It is up to the law enforcement authorities to ensure scrupulous adherence to our regulations.
If some students are found to be indulging in drug smuggling or any other undesirable activities, as has been suggested in some media reports, most stringent action should be taken against the erring individuals and those found guilty should be deported.
(The writer retired recently from the Indian Foreign Service. He spent more than 13 years in Africa and served as Indian Ambassador in Tanzania and South Africa)