The attacks on African nationals in India

LAST week, a video which surfaced in Greater Noida, India, went viral. The video showed Enduranca Amalawa, an economics student, being severely beaten by a mob at the Ansal Plaza, a mall in Greater Noida, a town close to the Indian capital, New Delhi, and which hosts a large population of African students. The disturbing footage, reportedly filmed on a mobile phone, was posted on Facebook by the Association of African Students in India. Amalawa, 21, told NDTV: “We kept crying for help, but no one came, not even the security marshals. I was running but they followed me and attacked me. They didn’t know me, why did they attack me? I don’t understand why wealthy people, dressed well and driving big cars, would want to kill us.”

His brother, Precious Amalawa, had locked himself inside a room but the attackers broke down the door and gave him a hiding. They also gave the Amalawas’ friend, Chukwuma Igboamalo, a hot chase and pummeled him on the road. Indeed, three Nigerian students had earlier been left bleeding on the road by a mob of around 1,000 people who were protesting against the death of a Class 12 student, Manish Khari, who had reportedly died of a drug overdose. Nigerians in the area are consistently accused of dealing in hard drugs and subjected to mob attacks, even though there are locals who insist that they would not peddle drugs if no one bought them.

In all the attacks, as in many others, the police were nowhere in sight. But the real tragedy is that even if they had been around, they would probably not have done anything to save the victims from their ordeal. India is a criminally racist country, the rhetoric of the political leadership notwithstanding. This is why it was only after a series incidents of the maltreatment of African nationals that senior police officer Dharmendra Kumar stated that security had been provided at hostels and colleges. Naturally, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, promised a fair and impartial investigation.

But if past experiences are any indication, the African nationals are not likely to get justice anytime soon. For one thing, there has been no sustained and systematic plan to tackle hate crimes against foreign nationals in India. This is why the rhetoric of racism against African nationals in the country has not been met with counter narratives. For another, weak consular representation, particularly worse in the case of Nigerians, has fostered a climate of terror in which African students are subjected to the most inhuman treatments by Indian citizens. Indian citizens have themselves a ball while dehumanising Africans.

With respect to Nigeria, it is saddening that despite the outrage that greeted the latest episode involving Nigerian students, the Federal Government has not issued a concrete and definitive statement denouncing the attacks and conveying the clear impression that there will be consequences for such episodes if the perpetrators were not brought to book. All too often, the government has issued tepid responses only after outcries by concerned members of the public, thus conveying the sad impression that Nigerian lives do not matter. This pattern of inaction was evident in the Federal Government’s response to the reported killing of 166 Nigerians in South Africa which did not draw a strong statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yet, as we pointed out in our earlier editorials, any country that could lose such a huge number of its citizens on foreign soil without protest is not worthy of being called a country. It would appear that the constant attacks on Nigerian citizens in countries like India is in part due to the weak or, in some cases, even non-existent consular representation that they get from the Federal Government.

The foregoing notwithstanding, it is important to warn Nigerian citizens engaging in drug peddling and other criminal acts to cease and desist from their pernicious ways. While the Federal Government owes Nigerians a duty to represent them well anywhere in the world, it is equally important for them to conduct themselves in accordance with the laws of the countries in which they have chosen to live and to be good ambassadors of Nigeria. This point cannot be overemphasised.

We advise African students in India to continue to speak out about their ordeal and to forge a common front in pushing their advocacy against racially-motivated attacks in the country. With unity and a common sense of purpose in their ranks, they can earn for themselves enough respect and response from the Indian government. Needless to say, they should shun all acts of criminality that may provide a basis for racially-motivated attacks to thrive and make life extremely difficult for them while they struggle to earn a degree on foreign soil.