Attack On Nigerians Not ‘Racial, Xenophobic,’ Indian Govt Reacts
Sushma Swaraj, India Minister of External Affairs[/caption]
India Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj has reacted to conclusions made by African envoys that the attacks on Nigerians living in the country is “xenophobic and racial”.
Heads of African missions in India had on Monday asserted that ‘no known, sufficient and visible deterring measures have been taken by the government’ on the attack which occurred at Greater Noida.
According to them, they expected a strong condemnation from the highest political level both nationally and locally.
Advertisement
The envoys, following a “special” meeting on the incidents, called for an independent investigation by the Human Rights Council as well as other human rights bodies and also to comprehensively report the matter to the Commission of the African Union.
Recall that four Nigerian students were attacked by a group of Greater Noida residents who took out a candle-light march after a 17-year-old boy Manish died due to suspected drug overdose.
The protest march was taken out after the police released some Nigerians detained for questioning in connection with death of Manish, a class 12 student, due to “lack of evidence”.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the Parliament session, Swaraj said, “You can’t say that steps we took were inadequate. We are committed to ensuring security of all foreigners in India”.
Advertisement
She added that it was not right to connect the incident with racism before the investigation draws to a close. “I said this in context of attacks in US too,” she added, referring to attacks on Indians in America – the most infamous of which occurred in a Kansas pub costing a Hyderabad engineer his life.
“We are constantly working for security of African nationals. We told him calling us ‘xenophobic’ and then saying you will go to Human Rights Council was not right. V.K. Singh has spoken to them,” she added.
