Some Indians led by one Sehba Imam met with injured
Nigerian and African students at the hospital in Greater Noida last
Friday. Writing about the visit later on her Facebook page, Iman said:
“The first thing that stuck us was, ‘Oh my god how
young they are!’All of them were close to my daughter’s age
-students between 21 to 25 years – young students, in a foreign country.
We all have children or siblings or other close relatives studying in
other countries, it’s scary to think what a family would go through when
they watch the video of a relative being chased and beaten up
by a mob. When they hear that their children cannot step out of their
homes for essential groceries and have even run out of drinking water…
Considering the situation, these young men were amazingly calm and
sensible… On many forums, the students are appealing to each other to
stay calm and not to retaliate.
The coordinator of Association of
African Students in India, asked us to not apologise on behalf of our
countrymen,
‘All of India is not like that, that is what I keep telling
everyone, just like all Africans are not the same. There are good and
bad people in every country’.
It’s so simple to know and yet so hard for some people to accept this truth. The situation in Greater Noida remains tense.
Two good things we noticed in this lousy situation – One, The
educational institutes around are supporting their students and looking
after their basic needs currently.
Secondly, administration is
sympathetic and helpful. Saw policemen securely bring a group of girls
to a pharmacy in an official vehicle, for them to pick up essential
supplies. The Policemen were polite and caring (yes, not a gesture we
associate with our police force, but life is full of pleasant surprises
in the worst of situations)
What remains is the arduous task of
addressing the ignorance which makes people believe in and spread
bizarre rumours about cannibalism, crime and immorality.
We need to
organize joint marches, stand ins and poster campaigns… and perhaps a
theatre group can be invited to perform on this issues in Greater Noida
villages.”
More photos below…
360L
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