Rise of fringe groups threatens the cosmopolitan ethos of India's IT capital, which may soon cease to be an investment destination if things continue to decline
The horrifying recent incident in Bangalore, in which a 21-year-old Tanzanian girl, a student, was stripped, beaten and paraded, and three of her male friends beaten up by a mob, has been repeated too often in its shameful details to require any reiteration. A couple of its aspects, however, need to be emphasised. First, it might have severely damaged India-Tanzania relations but for the prompt action by the Ministry of External Affairs, which not only impressed on the Karnataka Government, the need to take exemplary action against the policemen whose negligence and worse allowed the incident to happen and arrest the culprits, but which also sent a team of its own along with the Tanzanian High Commissioner to India, Mr John WH Kijazi, who visited Bangalore to get a first-hand account of what happened and build confidence among African students
In the event, the suspension of an Assistant Commissioner, an Inspector of Police, and four constables for dereliction of duty and the arrest of a number of suspects, has satisfied the Tanzanian High Commissioner who has reportedly dismissed all talk about racism and said, “We are very much impressed with the action already taken.” The matter, however, must not stop with this. There has to be a credible inquiry into the conduct of the suspended police personnel and the award of exemplary punishment if they are found guilty.
The matter needs attention. After the assault on the Tanzanian girl and her friends, African students have alleged that Bangalore Police treated them with contempt whenever they came for help. While there might have been an element of exaggeration in this in the charged aftermath of the incident, the suspensions ordered and the conduct of the police during and after it, suggests that there is at least some truth in the claim. What is critically relevant here is that most African students clearly feel that they suffer vicious racial discrimination and the authorities are indifferent. Should a significant section of them return home with this feeling, serious adverse repercussions on the lives of the large number people of Indian origin living in Africa, may follow. Even otherwise, their feeling and its articulation will seriously undermine India's image as a modern, secular, democracy with a universalist and inclusive ethos, particularly if incidents of violence against African students continue.
The matter has also a domestic implication. The mass fleeing of people from North-Eastern India from Bangalore in 2014 following violence against some of them was a development that reflected a prejudice that is almost certain to further intensify the alienation of a significant section of the region from the rest of India, which can only aggravate the challenges to the nation's integrity. The harsh fact is that Bangalore is becoming increasingly vulnerable to mob violence, particularly by fringe groups with retrograde agendas which they seek to impose on the whole city. Recall the assault and molestation of couples at city's bars on occasions like Valentine's Day. The police did not cover itself with glory on this occasion too. This, in turn, is clearly a result of a steep fall in its morale, efficiency and integrity over the years thanks to blatant political interference. It is not difficult to imagine what Bangalore will be reduced to if the process is not reversed.
Reviving the police force will not be easy. Habits of functioning, once formed, die hard. Nor will be easy to deal with these fringe groups because they have flourished by harvesting the acute social, cultural and ethnic tensions that have come in the wake of Bangalore's rapid economic growth. Unfortunately, instead of trying to counter them, political leaders across the spectrum have sought to hitch them to their wagons. What they either do not understand or bother about is that India's Information Technology capital may soon cease to be a coveted investment destination should things continue to decline.