A series of brutal, mindless and seemingly unprovoked attacks on Africans in India has prompted President Pranab Mukherjee to condemn them not so much on humanitarian and racist grounds as on political and economic grounds. His comments may indicate a greater preoccupation with national self-interest. Vice President Hamid Ansari has also more or less taken the same line. Their observations are of course extremely sensible. The attacks on Africans in India can indeed sour this country’s relations with Africa. India has long had strong political ties with Africa especially dating back to the Bandung Conference in 1956 when Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Kurama Nkrumah of Ghana stood for peace shoulder to shoulder with Jawaharlal Nehru. Indians also without exception backed the freedom struggle in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela. Pranab Mukherjee said it would be most unfortunate if the long-standing relations are soured. African students should be able to study here with minds without fear. Of course, the attack on Africans is instigated by people who are unaware of or against India’s traditional ties with Africa in a shared struggle against European colonisation.
What is needed to fight the mental backwardness among a section of Indians is the creation of a healthy awareness of values. Political and economic ties with the victims’ countries are not fundamentally relevant. Brutality must be denounced. In the case of Africans, the colour of their skin does matter even in India which was exploited by white rulers for two hundred years. Indians are allergic to “blackness” except perhaps when it comes to hair. The emphasis is on fairness as much in the sale of beauty products as in the marriage market. A dark skin is as much of a hurdle as casteism. To that can be added Indian chauvinism. White leaders and students are also discriminated against at Indian academic institutions.