Africans and Indians: The Gulf Between

Book excerpt: Relations between Africans and Indians in India and in Africa is the subject of this book by Willie Molesi who is also the author of ”Relations Between Africans and Arabs: Harsh Realities,” and “Black Africa versus Arab North Africa: The Great Divide.” It includes documented cases of attacks on Africans in India and other incidents to help explain the complex nature of relations between Africans and Indians: How Africans and Indians interact with each other, why there are tensions and even outright hostility between them best demonstrated by attacks on African students and other Africans in India through the years, why this brutal treatment of Africans has not stopped, and why black people seem to be the primary target of this kind of hostility by Indians. The work is complemented by the author's perspective on this highly volatile subject to provide more insights into the matter derived from his firsthand knowledge of relations between Africans and Indians. He is a black African and writes from personal experience as well, in addition to the research he has done on the subject. He has known Indians – as much as he has Arabs – in Africa since childhood, has interacted with both as a customer at their business establishments, went to school with them and stayed with them in the same boarding house at a racially integrated school, and worked with them through the years. Therefore, he brings to this work a perspective that is not just a product of secondary sources to document the study but also of what he himself knows about both Indians and Arabs. He has also written about both providing penetrating insights into their relations with black Africans. The work is intended to address the problems that exist in relations between them and Africans and what can be done to solve those problems not only in a mutually acceptable way but also unilaterally by Africans taking drastic measures to secure their interests and well-being even if the steps they take may lead to severance of ties with them. African diplomats in India have already, collectively as representatives of African countries, issued a formal protest and warning to the Indian government that they would recommend to their governments to stop sending African students to India – and to take other measures – in order cut off other ties with India if nothing is done to effectively end the brutal treatment of Africans in that country. The author also proposes some countermeasures African countries can take to achieve this goal. Other Africans, including some professors and national leaders among them a Kenyan senator, have also proposed some countermeasures in pursuit of the same objective because of the brutal mistreatment of Africans by Indians in India and by Arabs in Arab countries. A Nigerian diplomat in India publicly warned of possible retaliation against Indians in Nigeria by Nigerians who could force them out of their homes and into the streets where they could face retaliation in the form of physical violence in the same way Africans do in India where they are also subjected to other forms of abuse and humiliation – verbally abused and spat on – as well as discrimination in housing, evicted for no reason, and overcharged for goods and services simply because they are African. Indian authorities have not seriously addressed the problem of brutal discrimination against Africans in India. Dark-skinned Indians also face discrimination by light-skinned Indians but not as much as Africans do. Even they, dark-skinned Indians, attack and discriminate against Africans. If the problem had to do with skin colour only, dark-skinned Indians would not be attacking Africans. They would be helping Africans. They don't. They are, instead, equally hostile against Africans and some times even more so, especially when some people mistakenly put them together with Africans as kith and kin because of the complexion they share. Therefore, the problem is more than skin-deep. But it can be contained even if it cannot be eliminated. Otherwise African countries may be forced to take effective countermeasures in retaliation but without resorting to violence, the author contends.