Indian-origin people attacked in Congo

Ground Report | New Delhi: Indian-origin people attacked; A mob damaged the business establishments and property of people of Indian origin in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Regarding this incident that took place on Thursday, the police said that it was due to the death of a student from Congo in Bengaluru, India last week.

Indian-origin people attacked

Last week also a similar incident happened in Kinshasa when shops of many Indians were looted. Crowds were protesting the death of Congolese student Joel Maloo in police custody in Bengaluru, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, several Indian shops and warehouses were looted in Congo, a car was set on fire, police said. Stones were thrown at three other vehicles. These incidents happened in the Limete area of ​​Kinshasa when such a rumor spread that another youth of Congolese origin had died in India.

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Kinshasa Police Commissioner Silvano Kasongo said, "Rich people, especially some young Indians, are looting shops and warehouses run by them." Police have arrested three people in this regard. He has also found 40 vines made of cloth made for throwing stones. The police did not say in their statement whether anyone was hurt in the incident.

What happened in Bangalore?

Joel Malu died in police custody in Bangalore. He was arrested by the police on 1 April for possession of drugs. According to the police, Malu complained of chest pain, after which he was taken to the hospital where he died.

After this incident, some people of African origin living in Bangalore had protested. The police had also lathi-charged those people. Later, the police took five protesters into custody and registered a case against them.

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On August 3, some officials from the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Delhi reached Bengaluru and inquired about the incident from the police. After this, the state government handed over the investigation of Malu's death to the CID.

Allegations of racism in India

Many times diplomats in Africa have complained that there is racism against people of African origin living in India. In 2016 too, a young man of Congolese origin was lynched in Delhi.

A similar incident happened in 2014 when three students from Gabon and Burkina Faso were cornered at a metro station in Delhi. According to the African Students in India (AASI), there are about 25,000 students of African origin in India who are studying in 500 government and private universities in the country.

Most of these students come from Sudan and Nigeria. This is followed by countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, and Ethiopia from where a large number of students go to India to study.

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